


Devil May Cry: Forgotten Sins

by Mariana_Souza



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Action/Adventure, Apocalypse, Betrayal, Blood and Gore, Demons, Devil Trigger (Devil May Cry), Elemental Magic, Emotional Manipulation, Family Drama, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Magic, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Redemption, Seven Deadly Sins, Sin Devil Trigger (Devil May Cry), Weapons of Mass Destruction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:28:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 23,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26857462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mariana_Souza/pseuds/Mariana_Souza
Summary: "Devil May Cry: Forgotten Sins" is a fan-made direct (AU)continuation of Devil May Cry 5 (it would work as a 6th game, for example), it's full-canon-based using my headcanons, theories, and my own interpretation of the canon universe. There are also lots of new lore elements I created for story enrichment. A few chapters have two versions, the "cyan" and the "magenta", were each shows the subplots of Nero/Vergil and Dante/Kyrie respectively.
Relationships: Kyrie/Nero (Devil May Cry), Nero's Mother/Vergil (Devil May Cry)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 65





	1. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, hey! The fanfic version of the Prologue is here! It explains a little Kyrie's new look (like you saw on the teaser)and as well the main triggering of the entire FS story. Watch out, there's a good amount of violence and gore on this chapter.

**_Fortuna - Many Years ago - 03:52 AM_ **

Within the old streets of Fortuna, no living soul was out in the streets; No one would dare hang out at this hour, for fear of being chased down by a demon.

At the center of the city, music began to play very low - as if it didn't want to call attention to itself, but still wanted to sing out loud.

Nero was in his very young days, around two to three years old. He ran happily down a large avenue, following a trail of small blue and golden flames; he gleefully stepped on them as if they were just small puddles of water. His clothes didn’t seem to be new: they appeared to be a little worn out from so much washing, and his chest area was stained with a bit of dried blood.

There was a man walking and singing in front of the child. It was different to make out his clothes in the darkness, but he appeared to be wearing a long and warm coat.

" _Sun is shinin' in the sky, there ain't a cloud in sight. It's stopped raining, everybody's in the play and don't you know,_

 _It's a beautiful new day, hey hey!”_ The man sang together with some sort of screen-only device, as it played the instrumental version of _"Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra”_ and brightly displayed the song’s title.

 _"Runnin' down the avenue, see how the sun shines brightly in the city_ on _the streets where once was a pity. Mr. Blue Sky is living here today, hey hey!"_

The man continued to sing as he turned to Nero, and he slowly manifested huge wings made out of blue and golden light with feline paws on the third junction of each wing. Two long tails covered in golden and blue scales manifested, as well, also with feline paws on each end.

_"Mr. Blue Sky, please tell us why_

_You had to hide away for so long (so long)_

_Where did we go wrong?"_

Nero wasn’t afraid of the man, nor any or his inhuman features; in fact, he is having a lot of fun with him. The man was a friend to him, after all — someone he could trust. 

The man stretched his tails towards Nero and let him touch its massive paws, which are practically the same size as Nero’s body. Nero’s eyes shone with curiosity, and as he stroked them with his little hands, he realized that they were rather warm and soft.

The paws gently grabbed him and lifted him up, and Nero laughed happily as they swung him around in the air. It felt like he was flying! 

The man brought the child a little closer to him, and as he held Nero close, he said with a very tender voice, _"Hey there, my little boy."_

Nero giggled happily as he looked at his face. _"Daddy! Daddy can magic!"_

The man looked almost like an older version of Vergil, with a scraggly beard and hair that was half-white, half-black in color. His eyes’ sclera were in the shape of a star, and his irises were a shiny green color. He also had a freshly cut wound crossing his right cheek, and his face was all dirty as if he had just fought something big.

 _"Hehehe! Yeah! Daddy can do some magic."_ He replies, slowly and gently with a broad smile.

**_15 June - 04:30 PM_ **

All of those images were now circling around Nero's head, as he remembered Vergil’s face from moments earlier; he recalled Vergil staring at himself and Dante with a very intimidating scowl on his face, growling as if he really was a true demon.

 _"THIS DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE!"_ Nero screamed as he punched the jukebox inside the van, while Nico hurriedly drove away from the falling branches of the Qliphoth.

 _"I know you hate Vergil, but you can't kill your own father!"_ Trish yelled at Nero.

Dante had already told Nero that Vergil was Nero’s father, and now Trish was doing the same. But up until now, Nero had always thought of the man he met many years ago as his father. His thoughts were quickly becoming a scrambled mess from the confusion of it all.

 _"It's true. You’d never recover from that…"_ Lady said softly in an attempt to calm Nero down. _"You saved us. You should be proud. Now you can put this all behind you…"_

But Nero wasn’t paying attention; he was too busy recalling more and more memories about that man from his childhood. This man had taken care of him when he needed him most, he was the only one that gave attention to the bleeding of his eyes and nose in the middle of the night, held him close as they flew around the streets of Fortuna together, and even let him hold his sword — a magical blade with the ability to shatter itself.

Nero deeply recalled another very important moment between them: the moment he left.

He had brought Nero back to his bed in the orphanage and laid him down to sleep, although his face was reluctant — he didn't want to do this. As he covered Nero with the blanket, the tired child asked him with a weak voice, " _Daddy? Are you leaving?"_

 _"Unfortunately, yes. I don't have a choice,"_ He answered with an unhappy tone as he patted Nero on the head.

Behind him stood two other beings. One appeared to have red and golden wings just like his, but instead of feline paws, the ends were adorned with bird talons — it was too dark for Nero to see anything else about them. Far away in the sky was another figure with four wings and four tails, which glowed with a blue and red light that obscured their silhouette.

 _"Hurry up!"_ The figure at the window called, making the man much more apprehensive.

 _"Will you come back?"_ Nero asked, beginning to drift off to sleep.

 _"Yes, but that will take a lot of time. Be very patient, please,"_ The man replied using a soft, yet painful tone.

The man gave Nero a small kiss on his forehead. _"But never forget, no matter what happens, Daddy will always love you...”_

Nero was struggling to keep his eyes open, at this point, but he could still hear the man saying from a short distance: _"...Even not knowing you."_

Nero tried to open his eyes again, but he could only see two silhouettes — one of his supposed father, and the other from the figure at the window. The second person appeared to be dragging his father out of the room by force, and he heard his father cry in a whimpering voice: _"My baby, no!"_

Nero blinked again, and the last thing he remembered was seeing a shooting star disappear into the sky.

**_August 8th (Nowadays) - Fortuna's orphanage, 11:30 AM_ **

_"What did he mean by that?"_ Nero asked himself, his mind drifting away as he took care of the debris from the Orphanage's reconstruction. His new spectral arms were a perfect fit for the job: they never seemed to get tired, and they could lift the same amount of weight as his bare arms, if not more.

 _"Was Shooting Star Man just a dream? Or is Dante the one that’s wrong?"_ He continued to disconnect from reality, but he was interrupted by Nico's screaming towards him.

 _"Nero! Nero! Earth to Nero! Wake up!"_ Nico yelled louder as she got closer to him.

 _"You were daydreaming again."_ She gave Nero a worrisome look. _"Still not feeling any better? And Where's Kyrie?"_

 _"She's inside, taking care of the kids' lunch,"_ Nero answered with a fake smile.

Nico was a bit perplexed by this. _"Hm? Is she feeling better already?"_

 _"She said that this helps her..."_ Nero’s voice trailed off, as he threw the rest of the debris in the trash.

 _"You’re letting her work?!"_ Nico questioned Nero, a worried look on her face.

Nero didn’t respond; that subject wasn't something he wanted to talk about. 

Nico stared at him more apprehensively than before, and without being able to contain herself, she asked: _"You’re both going to see a doctor about this...right?"_

Nero remained silent for a few seconds before replying. _“I'm trying to convince her, but she's being very reluctant right now…"_

_"Nero...you know, man…having a miscarriage isn't normal…she was at three weeks already."_

Nico’s words were like a punch in the throat. She just had to touch such a fresh wound, didn’t she? Thankfully, Nero was able to contain himself before he could get too impatient with her.

_"I know...we know…but just be patient, Nico. Julio, Kyle, and Carlo just got adopted, and then...then THIS happened…”_

Nero sighed. _“She’s just...she's feeling kinda...lonely, you know?"_

Meanwhile, Kyrie was in the orphanage's kitchen, trying to make lunch while the kids impatiently pressured her to hurry up. Kyrie was usually the girl who was always smiling whenever someone spoke to her...but the moment she turned her back, her expression instantly became one of sadness and pain.

 _"...So you, right?"_ Nico asked dryly and directly.

Nero was in shock; how was she able to read him so easily? 

_"Sorry, man. But you are as transparent as a crystal.”_ Nico continued. _“Please, don't tell me you think this is your fault—”_

Nero interrupted her suddenly, his voice sounding impatient and quite uncomfortable. _"What if it has something to do with me being a hybrid? Can I only have children with other hybrids? What if my magic killed the embryo because it wasn't strong enough? Or something along those lines?"_

As he spoke, large demons began to gather around the orphanage’s entrance.

" _What if Dante was an equivocate and Vergil isn't my father, but someone completely different? I don't even know who my mother was. What if she was something else?!"_

_"You mean…she wasn't human?"_

_"Yes…"_ Nero slowed down. _"I don't think I'm three-quarters human… Something tells me that I'm much less than fifteen percent."_

 _"Well…I know someone who can help you—"_ before Nico was able to finish her sentence, Nero suddenly noticed the demons closing in on them, but was too late: they were already trapped.

These demons were unlike anything Nero and Nico had ever seen before: they each had a slender wolf body that was slightly bigger than that of an average human, and they appeared to be wearing wolf skulls with deformed goat horns as a helmet. Much of their bodies were covered in thick purple scales, and what little bit of flesh they did have was black as coal. A strange black mist emanated from the back of their heads. Only a few of them were clad in full armor — and even that was destroyed and mangled at best — but they all wore some form of protection on their chest.

Nero quickly turned and used his Bringer Claws to grab Red Queen, which was sitting propped up by the right side of the big trash container.

The spectral hand moved very fast, but not fast enough — strange arrows launched by chains reached the sword first, their fast speed and hard material so overwhelming that they pierced through the metal like glass. Red Queen’s engine was obliterated by the impact, leaving nothing but small pieces of metal covered in oil in its wake. 

_"How the hell?!"_ Nico yelled.

The chains had been launched from one of the demon's chests; the supposed “armor” was an opening for them. The demons laughed at Nero's desolated face. But the one who attacked didn't bring the chains back right away, giving Nero an opening. Using his Bringer Claws, he grabbed onto the chains tightly and pulled, yanking the demon right off their feet in a blink. The attack was so sudden, so fast, that the demon couldn't even think of defending itself. 

Nero channeled all of his pain from the past few days and the anger of seeing his deary weapon being destroyed to his right fist and, combined with the pull strength, he broke the demon's neck in a single punch, knocking its head right off of its body. The skull helm — as well as the head, itself — were shattered like a crystal cup as the demon's eyes and brain flew far away.

The squirting blood from its neck partially transforms into Red Orbs of various sizes. 

Nico, astonished by that grotesque scene, thought to herself: _"Why does he need a weapon, anyway?"_

Nero breathed heavily, his teeth sharp like a shark's, it was as if some kind of monster was trying to possess his body and sanity. He let a massive air out of his chest to regain his concentration while more flashbacks came to mind. 

This one was from when he was about nine or ten years old. Nero recalled himself standing in the middle of a forest, holding a terrible carved wooden sword. 

_"Weapon equal… no wild…?"_ He read on the ground.

 _"Do I need a weapon to fight correctly, then?"_ He asked the huge monster that stood to his right. 

The creature only responded with some incomprehensible growling.

Back to reality, Nero clenched his fists, again, to force himself to keep his sanity, but screams from inside the orphanage grabbed his attention; one of the demons had climbed through the window and was now rapidly approaching Kyrie and the orphans.

Kyrie was petrified by the monster, fully aware of the incoming trouble — he was too close to the kids.

 _"KYRIE! KIDS!"_ Nero shouted with all his strength. 

He spread open his spectral wings, and in a single flap, he kicked off the ground, creating a huge whirlwind of air that threw several of the demons away. 

But just moments after he took off, Nero suddenly felt numerous puncture wounds being made around his body; more of the demons had launched their arrows and pierced through his human flesh. Surprisingly, the attack didn’t even scratch his spectral wings. 

The demons held tight their respective chains, and with all their strength, they pulled Nero back to the ground, opening a massive crater in front of the orphanage. 

_"These fuckers…"_ Nico thought to herself. _"They’re working together!"_

Before Nero was able to get up, many demons were already standing over him, holding his body and wings against the ground. They may have been scrawny on their own, but together, they could easily hold him down.

Looking ahead, Nero spotted the red orbs dropped by the first knockout, and once again his mind was flooded with memories.

It was him as a kid again, this time fighting a rodent demon that was nearly his size with nothing but his bare hands. He won the fight with a strong punch at the demon's face, killing it on impact. 

The same monster from his previous flashback raised his right hand, holding another of the same demonkind. The demon growled in its incomprehensible language, but even so, Nero replied very tiredly: _"What? Again? No, please…”_

Nero sighed. _“I'm so tired already...let's just call it a night and make these for dinner…"_

The huge creature, even in a kneeling position, was nearly three meters in height (9.8 ft); he was hardly visible because of the tree's heavy shadows. His body was completely deformed, with his arms and legs completely disproportionate and his left eye squished by his own facial muscles. His left wing had apparently been severed, and his right wing is only partially attached to his right arm.

The creature stared at Nero quietly, until the kid asked, _"So? What's up?"_

The creature grumbled and pointed towards the red orbs on the floor, still holding the demon firmly in his right hand.

 _"What am I supposed to do with these?"_ Nero asked suspiciously, while he tentatively grabbed a few of them.

The creature responded by making some munching sounds while pointing to his own mouth.

 _"Eh? Eat them?"_ Nero yelled, scared.

Suddenly, Nico called Nero's name aloud, fully snapping him back to reality again. 

She threw a small round glass bottle in the air in his direction, with the words "Holy Water" written on it. 

_"Close your eyes!"_ She ordered Nero.

Nico precisely shot at the bottle with her handmade rifle, exploding it in a shower of water. The demons began to catch fire everywhere the droplets touched. Although Nero himself didn’t catch fire, he could feel his skin burning, as if hot boiling water was falling over him.

With all of his strength concentrated, Nero was able to throw the demons away from him with ease, giving him an opening. But instead of fighting them back, he ran towards the red orbs and quickly grabbed a handful of them, tossing them into his mouth. 

Meanwhile, inside the orphanage, Kyrie scrambled to defend herself from the incoming demon. She grabbed a nearby iron skillet and used it as a weapon, slamming it against the demon’s head with everything she had. She didn’t have Nero's strength, but her attack did manage to leave the demon disoriented, giving her just enough time to snatch a knife out of one of the other caretakers’ hands, who was holding it in panic.

But despite being disoriented, the demon still attempted to hurl its claws in Kyrie’s direction — and, unfortunately, without the proper training, she wasn’t able to avoid it. The demon’s claws sliced through her forehead like a hot knife in butter. Luckily, the cut wasn’t deep, but Kyrie still fell to the ground with her head spinning. 

The demon had regained their senses, at this point, and it prepared their attack against Kyrie. But before the attack could land, however, Nero suddenly struck the demon’s head with his Bringer Claws, crushing its skull like a snowball. 

Everyone else there, including the kids, were horrified at the scene — something they will never forget. The spectral hand dragged the hanging body out of the room, dripping demon blood all over the place.

Two caretakers were able to help Kyrie get up and help walk her out of the room. As they made their way down the stairs, they could hear a loud roaring and many crushing and punching sounds from outside.

Nico met Kyrie and the others on the first floor, out of breath. _"Oh, fuck! Holy Shit! Are you okay?!"_

 _"I'm fine…"_ Kyrie answered, a bit out of breath. "Where's Nero?"

 _"He's going fucking nuts out of there! Like… I dunno! Some sort of beast?!"_ She screamed, unnerved because of the adrenaline.

That information sent chills down Kyrie’s spine. She had a feeling she knew what was going on, but she hoped and prayed she’d be wrong... 

Kyrie and Nico were the first ones to leave the orphanage front door, and they couldn’t believe their eyes when they spotted Nero.

It was a bloodbath. 

Nero looked like he was completely out of his senses, fighting the demons with his bare hands. He was punching and crushing the demons' bones and organs using pure physical strength. He had absolutely no difficulty in disembodying the legs and arms of his targets and using them as bludgeoning weapons against his new victims. Whenever all four hands of his were occupied, he used his mouth, biting and ripping off the demons' flesh and sometimes even entire members like a beast. Whenever he finished off a difficult one, he let out a mighty roar from deep down in his soul, showing off his sharp teeth and claws. He already had parts of his Devil Trigger skin manifesting all over his body.

The demons were trying to hold him down with their chains, shooting them against his body. But even when one of them did manage to pierce his skin, all it did was make him even angrier and even more insane. He was so driven by adrenaline and wrath that he couldn't feel the pain.

The caretakers and the children were truly horrified. How could such a kind and sweet person turn into a mad monster like that? No, a mindless demon — that's how Nero looked like right now. An insane and bloodthirsty demon.

 _"He's going into that… again…?"_ Kyrie whispered, and only Nico could hear.

Nico slowly turned her head to face Kyrie, scared and confused. _"He...what?"_

 _"He hasn't told you? During a certain time of his childhood… he was raised by an actual demon…"_ Kyrie whispered very low so that only Nico would be able to hear and understand.

Nico’s eyes couldn’t help but widen in terror.

 _"That's…that’s the White Devil!"_ The elder caretaker yelled in panic and pointed at Nero.

Confused, a younger caretaker asked, _“White Devil? What are you talking about?_

The old lady replied in a cold sweat, _"Don't you know this orphanage's stories? The story of a demonic child?"_

Another caretaker then added, also getting in panic, _"That child the Stelle family resolved to take care of, and a few days later the mother and father both died?!_

The bloodbath stopped for a moment when the humans started to make a ruckus, all of them talking about Nero being a devil — even the demons stopped to listen.

One of the kids interrupted the adults, and nearly in tears, she asked, _"Newo…is a demon?"_

Another kid piped into the discussion, _"He said he only knew magic! Not that he was a demon!"_

Nero doesn't even turn back to look at them; he didn't even know they were watching.

Kyrie started to get very apprehensive about how Nero's image was gradually being destroyed by himself. She tried to at least comfort the kids by saying, _"Nero can use magic, but he's not a monster… he's just taking…drastic measures."_

But the older woman suddenly freaked out and screamed, _"NO! He's a monster! I remember when he was a kid!"_

Nico blood boiled from such preconceptions, _"Can't you see, you idiot?! He's protecting us!"_

A man interfered suddenly, very sure of what he's saying, " _He's just saving us for him later!"_

 _"What the fuck?! Listen here you pieces of ungrateful shit!!"_ Nico shouted angrily at the adults, making the little kids cry.

Nero kept immobile, his face expressionless. He was only listening to all that mess, all those words touched old scars in his mind.

Some demons started to high-five as if that was their plan all along, others were making noises similar to giggles. A few started to grumble some deep noises and, unfortunately, Nero could understand them. They were saying things like, _"Look at that idiot, he thought he could live among humans!", "Why you haven't killed them?! They hate you, scumbag!", "What a jerk! Humans are just stupid prey for us!"_ and many out-loud laughs and chuckles at him.

A demon that stood behind him didn't think twice, using the wide opening Nero has created to shoot a chained arrow out of their chest. 

The arrow went straight into his chest, piercing through his heart, making him fall only unconscious on the ground. He wasn’t dead...yet.

 _"NERO!"_ Both Kyrie and Nico shouted in panic.

All the other demons turned their attention to the group of humans, now without Nero to protect them. They became easy targets.

 _"I told you all! You motherfuckers!"_ Nico shouted in anger while she loaded her gun. _"Don't run! That's what they enjoy!"_

 _"Nero! NERO! HELP!"_ Kyrie shouted out, in a vain attempt to reach him.

But nothing.

The demons approached them slowly, teasing them with roarings and intimidating gestures. 

Nico repeated the same strategy as before: she tossed another holy water bottle over them, but instantly, before they could even shoot, one of the demons jumped towards the bottle, sacrificing itself. 

_"What the fuck?!"_ Nico shouted incredulously. _"These fuckers… they aren't ordinary demons!"_

After a few seconds of staring at them, Kyrie noticed that their chest protection bore the symbol of the extinct Order of Sword — the Order she once belonged to, along with her brother and Nero. The sight of the insignia gave her a strange sensation like a sixth sense was warning her something that big was coming.

Nico was the only truly armed person among the group — the other one being Kyrie, who was armed with only a kitchen knife. The pressure was making them nervous for real. 

It was then that one of the demons shot an arrow at one of the caretakers, but not for the kill; instead, the chains wrapped around his arm. The caretaker screamed in pain, the chains burning his skin and flesh alive. 

Nico tried to shoot the chains, but her bullets weren't strong enough, putting her in a dead-end. 

Another nearby demon released their chains, this time towards a kid. Kyrie didn't even think twice — she jumped in front of the children and let her right arm be caught, instead.

The children screamed in fear, as did Kyrie. The chains burned like hot metal, immediately leaving marks on her skin.

 _"NERO! YOU SHIT!"_ Nico shouted in panic while she attempted to shoot the demon, but her attack only left behind a few scratches.

The demon gave a mischievous smile to her, sending massive chills down her spine.

Demons were all over Nero, holding him just in case. Although he was able to regain a bit of his consciousness, the wound on his chest could barely heal because of the chains, but he could slowly move his head towards the group.

Rage and fear flooded Kyrie's mind; she was possessed by feelings she never thought she would have. Her legs began to move by themselves, and — driven by survival and maternal instincts — she ran towards the demon. 

The creatures weren't expecting that. The one that was holding her with the chains panicked and volleyed more arrows at her. This time, their aim was lethal, and the piercing metals passed through Kyrie’s liver and stomach. 

She could only feel the taste of blood filling her mouth instantly, however, before she went for a precise stab on the open chest of her foe. She used all of her strength to deliver a deadly blow. The creature wimped in pain as their own blood showered on Kyrie's chest and above.

 _"OH MY GOD! KYRIE!"_ Nico and the other adults cried out in unison.

Nero could only watch the nightmarish scene from afar while he was immobilized. He lost all of his senses and thoughts; he could only see the image of his loved one fall to the ground, bathed in hers and the demon's blood. Everything else was black.

Suddenly, his eyes illuminated in a golden color, and his sclera assumed a four-pointed star shape.

Very far away from there, Trish could sense Nero's magical energy. She got her eyes stuck in the horizon, stunned by the fearsome presence.

 _"Trish?"_ Lady called out to Trish curiously. _"Are you okay?"_

_"What…in the seven hells is this?"_ Trish spoke into the wind, not recognizing the energy.

Much further than there, Lucia could feel the presence, too.

At another distant place from Fortuna, a man around Nero's age with silver hair with a dark brown stroke side cut, could also feel the energy. 

In the middle of a big city, inside his laboratory, a grown-up man with dark hair, a long beard, and glasses, stared at his monitors in puzzlement. The programs we're going crazy with the sudden influx of information they were receiving.

In the depths of the Underworld, even Mundus himself felt Nero's powerful magical energy. 

_"No...it's just like she said,”_ He whispered, a cold sweat dripping down his scarred face.

Still in the Underworld, near the remnants of the Qliphoth’s dying roots, many lesser demons stopped what they are doing and turned their attention to the magical signal.

Dante and Vergil. Who had been fighting those demons using their newly awakened Sin Devil Trigger, could clearly feel the signal as well, but they couldn't tell who or what it was from.

Noticing that the energy was coming from the human dimension, Dante tells his brother, " _We need to go back!"_

Vergil, surprisingly, agreed with his brother. _“Indeed.”_

Back in the human realm, a woman, casually dressed with long, braided black hair and two long scars that crossed her face, was walking on the streets of a very populated city. When she felt the signal, she stopped and smiled.

She then whispered, in some sort of delighted tone, _" The dragon finally awakened, hm? Hehehehe…let the Ragnarok begin, then,"_ and she continued to walk.

**_Back to Fortuna._ **

The entire island was engulfed in blue and red flames.

But the fire wasn't hurting any living being or destroying anything, except for the demons; no matter where they were, the fire got them and completely annihilated their bodies from existence.

 _"It's not…hurting…?"_ Nico thought to herself _. "It's just…comfortably warm…"_

Since there was no danger anymore, Nico was able to check on Kyrie, and luckily she was still breathing. 

With a breath of hope, Nico desperately looked around in the fire trying to find Nero, but Nero had disappeared from the place where she last saw him. She could tell he was nearby.

 _"Nero! She's alive!"_ She yelled.

But no response.

 _"Nero! 'ya bitch! Kyrie is alive and needs first aid, ASAP! Get 'yo demon ass back here and help her out!"_ She shouted with all her strength and anger.

Without a previous warning, the flames started to move extremely fast and gather together in front of the orphanage, forming some sort of a huge humanoid figure.

 _"Kyrie!"_ A voice came from the flames.

Nico froze in shock once the figure finally formed, she couldn't believe in her eyes.

Kyrie was still a bit conscious, and she tried to look at the blue and red light that was above her, but her vision was starting to fade away due to the blood loss.

 _"KYRIE!"_ The creature called aloud.

She recognized the voice and smiled. She was in good hands.

**_To be continued…_ **


	2. Bloodstained

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After some weeks of the Orphanage's incident, Kyrie comes back with new abilities and motivated to learn how to demon hunting. Meanwhile, something wrong is happening with Nero's demon magic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Full Proofreaded by Hotspot-the-626th(@deviantart)  
> Proofreaded a bit by @graphic-mistake(@tumblr) and @WikiMB  
> Partner Artist: @WikiMB 
> 
> Word count: 5877
> 
> Trigger Warning: Violence/Gore description/Depression

**A few weeks later...**

**November 2nd - 04:05 PM**

Nero was walking alone in the middle of a small city on the mainland; despite the weather being brisk, he was wearing his jacket. It was new, but it was like his old one, which had blue leather, zipped with the hood up. He walked slowly but not in a straight line, hands pocketed, and pissed off. His eyes were sunken in, and his beard the length similar to his uncle's.

On his back, he carried his brand new sword Nico made using the remains of his previous one:

_"Devil Queen"_

_Category: Human-made_

_Type: Slash and Magic Catalyst_

_User(s): Nero_

_Description: The ultimate version of Nero's old Red Queen. Its revving function is now fuelled by Nero's demon magic._

The new sword was quite similar to the previous one, but with a few upgrades; it has a chainsaw on one side and a typical blade on the other side. The engine grew a bit in size with larger exhausts. At the end of the handle, a keychain was made of a feather from the man's spectral wings.

From the shadows came a few Riots, Baphomets and Hell Cainas. They slowly circled around him, sensing the rageful aura that surrounded him.

A few Baphomets started the fight by casting ice spikes under Nero's feet. He easily avoided them by jumping backward; while he did so, he grabbed his sword. 

At his last jump, two Riots jumped over him. He had no trouble at all grabbing them by the neck with his Devil Bringers. When the Hell Cainas started to approach, he threw the two lizards at the Baphomets that barely could get out of the way in time and ended up being smashed against the ground. 

A Hell Caina swung their scythe towards Nero's chest. He swiftly parried the attack. Others of its kind got closer and started to sword fight Nero, but he could parry and defend every single swing. At the same time, he shot at the jumping Riots with his recently upgraded gun, which now also had a key charm made with another feather of his spectral wings.

_Carnage Rose_

_Category: Human-made_

_Type: Fire gun and Magic Catalyst_

_User(s): Nero_

_Description: With the upgrade, the gun shoots faster. It's easier to channel Nero's magic through it, making him able to use the special spectral projectiles he would only be able to use while in his Devil Trigger state._

When all of them were trembling on their feet, he carved the sword into the ground, and when he turned the switch on the handle, the chainsaw activated, bursting blue flames from his magic.

He swung his sword against the Hell Cainas and Riots; the teeth of the chainsaw ripped the demon flesh to ribbons as if they were made out of paper. Meanwhile, the Baphomets were starting their ice incantations to stop Nero from killing their comrades.

But it was put to a stop by an enormous bolt of purple electricity, not dead but stunned.

Nero turned around to look behind him. It was Kyrie, with a proud yet nervous glint in her eyes, holding her magical staff with a silver rose at the top.

 _"That was sick!"_ he said, pumping more adrenaline into her system.

She wasn't the same opera singer she was in the Order. She changed a lot since the incident, both mentally and physically. Her hair was a medium bob cut with a strip of white parted to the side and is held in place with a feather from Nero's Spectral wing. A small scar on the left side of her forehead was more visible; she got it during the orphanage attack back in Fortuna. She was wearing a long all-black leather jacket, jeans, leather gloves, and combat boots with a few purple details that threw out the outfit.

The oddest part of this new version of Kyrie was her eyes. Her right eye was the usual warm brown that Nero knew. In contrast, her left eye had sectoral heterochromia, with one half of the iris brown and the other half a light blue.

 _"The spellcasters are yours,"_ Nero pointed to the Baphomets.

Kyrie nodded confidently and ran up to them. They were starting to get up when they noticed her and began to flee. She aimed the rose end of her staff at them. Blades from under the rose opened and started to spin at high speed to channel her magic energy.

A large bean of electricity came out from the wide-open silver rose, obliterating all that was in its path beside one. 

When the bean ended, the staff closed up to cool down. Kyrie kneeled tiredly from the amount of magic used. The sole surviving Baphomet saw an opportunity to strike back. It cast its spell and then threw a sharp ice spear at Kyrie.

Before the ice could impale her tired body, a red energy barrier appeared in front of her, blocking the deadly attack. The border absorbed the impact and then shot back the same amount of force at the demon, killing it instantly.

Nero, who had his arm stretched in Kyrie's direction, controlled the barrier; his eyes were shining green and his facial hair much darker.

Nero nearly yelled at Kyrie for rushing ahead but controlled his nerves and just yelled, _"Oe oe, don't use your magic like that! You can't unload everything at the very beginning.."_ His eyes then returned to blue, and his facial hair silver.

 _"Sorry, I got too excited,"_ she said, embarrassed. 

He tisked. _"If you keep acting like a kid in a candy store, I can't leave you alone. Yet"_ he said with a teasing tone.

 _"Ah! No, no, no!"_ she exclaimed. _"I will be kicking demon asses in no time! You will see!"_

Nero gave an honest smile to her. He moved closer to her and gave her a chaste kiss on her forehead. _"I know you will, darling."_

Making her cheeks flush more. 

**_Minutes later…_ **

Kyrie was at the city's small police station receiving payment for the successful demon hunting and killing. At the same time, Nero waited outside, leaning back on the front part of the van.

He had a numb look in his eyes and a blank expression, hood up and his hand in his pockets. His mind drifted.

Without warning, he started to cough up blood. Fresh red blood hit the pavement, intense pain began to flood his system. He kneeled to the ground, unable to endure the pain.

 _"No… not again…"_ he whispered painfully.

Kyrie stepped outside of the police station with the money in hand, excited to show Nero her progress. Unfortunately, her enthusiasm was ripped away when she saw Nero hunched on the ground.

_"NERO!"_ she screamed as she sprinted towards him, also calling Nico's attention from inside the van.

_"NO!"_ he shouted between bloody coughs. _"Don't touch me!"_

Nico jumped out of the van very quickly. _"OH SHIT! Don't tell me he…!"_ she stopped when she saw all the blood dripping not just out of his mouth, but also from his nose and eyes.

_"Come on, man! Get inside!"_ she said as she put her arm around him to pull him up and help it into the van. Kyrie walked over to Nero's other side to help, but Nico made a signal for her to not touch him, which made her apprehensive.

While helping Nero into the van, Nico started to recall past events that were all too familiar to this situation:

**_Back to August 20th - 06:00 PM_ **

Kyrie was being taken to a modern hospital on the continent. Her wounds were so severe that she had entered a coma. She was only breathing with the help of special equipment. Her head was partially wrapped in bandages around the gash that a demon had inflicted. The room was not expensive-looking, but it wasn't cheap either. There was a comfortable chair for the patient's visitors to rest on by the bed's right side.

The place was dead silent. The beeps of the Holter Monitor was the only sound filling it.

The lights of the room were dim. 

Nico slowly entered the room, looking for Nero. She only saw the empty chair on the other side of the room, behind the bed, from her perspective. _"Nero? Nero, where are you?"_

After she entered, Lady and Trish walked in behind her. _"He's not here?"_ Trish asked. 

_"He should be. He barely leaves her side unless to use the restroom",_ Nico said very worriedly.

Lady and Trish got closer to the bed to take a better look at Kyrie. They both were shocked to see her in that state. 

Trish, unbelieving the situation of the human girl, said in a depressed tone, _"no… why do humans have to be so fragile like this? This is unfair…"_

_"I know, right?"_ Nico nearly whispered.

Nico stepped closer to the bed, circling Trish and Lady to be on the other side. Before reaching it, she heard a splash coming from under her shoes. She looked down and saw a small puddle of blood, passing under the bed from the direction of the chair. She hurried over to see what was on the opposite side of the bed.

_"HOLY SHIT! NERO!"_ she yelled in panic.

Nero had fallen out of his chair, unconscious. He had blood coming from his eyes and nose. There was still a little amount of blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. Trish and Lady went to see what was going on; they both were shocked when they saw the same sight. Nico quickly kneeled and went to check his pulse on his neck. 

Relieved, she told the others, _"Thank God, he's alive."_

The moment Trish got closer to Nero to assess what had happened, only she could see some flickering blue and red energy strings. It was acting like static around him. Trish stepped back, looking inexplicably scared and confused. Nico immediately noticed how apprehensive she got.

_"What's up?"_ She was confused as well.

_"Nothing… I hope…"_ Trish replied nervously.

She extended her hand towards Nero's head. The moment she touched him, she could see a yellow light string coming out of her hand, trying to connect to the ones that surrounded Nero's body. The moment it touched his, she felt like her entire body was being electrocuted.

She let out a painful scream and fell to the floor.

Not being able to see what truly happened, Lady shouted, worried, " _Oh my God! What happened? Are you okay?"_

While Trish got back on her feet, she explained, " _As I suspected… he's desyncing…"_

_"He's what now?!"_ Nico asked, confused.

_"Nico, you know the Demonologist, Victor?"_

She took a few seconds to respond, confused by the question. "Ah _, yes. Why?"_

Still feeling a bit of the pain from the shock, she said, _"He can explain better how Synchronization works. You need to take Nero there as fast as you can. But to sum up what is happening. He got problems with his demon magic."_

**_Back to the present days…_ **

Nero was lying down on the van's couch. He had a bit of a fever, but the bleeding stopped. Kyrie was just observing him, sitting in one of the chairs. She could see the light strings flashing around him. 

_"Can't you see them?"_ Kyrie asked Nico about the light strings.

_"I told you, no. Neither Lady could. It's a demonic magic thing,"_ Nico replied as she was driving at high speed out of the highway.

_"Don't touch him. You won't like to get hurt."_ Nico reinforced.

_"I won't, don't worry,"_ Kyrie said, a bit annoyed.

There was dead silence inside the van. Only the engine and the suspension rocking with every bump as the vehicle raced down the road. 

Kyrie looked at her hands, thoughtfully. So much had changed since the attack on the orphanage, it didn't look like it had just passed a bit more than two months. She clenched her fists confidently, and a bit of purple magical energy lightened up.

_"OH FUCK!"_ Nico yelled.

Kyrie ran to the front of the van to see what was going on. Once out, she was more surprised than Nico; it was demons very similar to those that attacked the orphanage, but none of them had armor aside from some chest protection. This time they were being accompanied by new flying fellas that looked like a vulture version of them. The only difference was the black steam mane that, in their case, was their tail, and they were hornless.

They were all being able to run together with the van.

_"I got this!"_ Kyrie shouted.

Before she gets to the door, some of the doggy demons threw their bodies against the van, trying to make it lose stability.

Kyrie trembled on her feet but didn't fall _._

_"Just keep going, Nico! Nero needs to get to the doctor,"_ she shouted to her partner.

_"GET OUT OF MY WAY, YOU PIECES OF SHIT! There's a sick person here!"_ Nico shouted while pushing harder on the accelerator.

Kyrie got her staff and opened the van's door. There was a demon already waiting for her. The monster jumped in her direction in an attempt to bite her. 

Using her elbow, she heavily hit the head of the demon, throwing them back into the asphalt.

Incredibly confident, she did a high jump off the van, and quickly, she adjusted her staff under her feet. As the sclera from her left eye turned black and the pupil shined in white, the blades started to run at high speed, magically. Very similar to Nero's but made out of purple light, enormous spectral wings came out of the silver rose among many lightning bolts. 

She started to ride her staff as if it was a flying skateboard.

She could now understand the demons yelling. _"Dragon! Dragon! Give us the Dragon!"_

_"Even if I knew what you're talking about! I wouldn't give it to you!"_ She bravely yelled as she closed the van's door.

The flying ones tried to hit her by diving from the sky. She avoided them by quickly swinging on her flying staff before increasing her speed. So much so she went ahead of the van. 

Surprised by Kyrie's speed, Nico gave a quick look at the speedometer. It showed that she was moving at one hundred twenty kilometers per hour; Kyrie was a little faster than that.

_"Holy shit, girl,"_ she whispered with a smile.

_"What's going on?!"_ Nero shouted from the sofa, still a bit dizzy.

_"Your girl is kicking demon ass, man!_." Nico yelled excitedly.

Nero moved fast so he could get to the front seat to see outside.

Four demons were getting closer to Kyrie and were preparing for a combined attack. Sensing the incoming attack, she got ready for it. At the moment she heard the roaring and seeing the creatures jump, she acted quickly. She willed the staff's wings to fuse, and they then assumed the shape of a scythe blade.

Precisely, she spun her body at high speed, and with the strength of her legs, she swung the blade in their direction. Thanks to inertia, they could not dodge, and the edge cuts through their bodies very smoothly. 

Once she finished her swing, she returned back to the initial position. Looking back, she began grinning in happiness and surprise; her plan worked perfectly.

Nico felt it necessary to pass over the demons' bodies with the van's wheels and did so with a smile. In doing so, the van jumped high enough to take both Nico and Nero out of the seat for a brief moment.

_"How this shit still fucking works?!"_ Nero shouted worrisomely.

Kyrie now had to take care of the avians. They kept attacking her by diving, but luckily she could avoid them all. Still, sometimes she had to rebalance her body, almost losing balance and making Nero's hair lighter than it already was.

She rose in the air and flew over the van's roof. The flying demons, thus, started to aim their claws at her. 

She deactivated the staff's winged mode, landed on the roof, and got ready to hit them full force.

Between their dives and her dodges, she swung the staff to land the heaviest part of it on the demons' bodies or even their heads, heavily damaging them and making them fall on the road.

When she threw away the last one, she started to cheer happily since she had yet to receive a single wound.

_"That's it, girl!"_ Nico cheered.

Nero couldn't help it; he gave a wide, proud smile.

_"Hey! I can see the city!"_ Kyrie screamed.

_"Finally, bro… let's discover what is going on with 'ya,"_ Nico said low to Nero.

Nero just took a slow and deep breath, very worried about what's to come.

**_Pitch Black City - 07:43 PM_ **

The van slowly entered the large megalopolis. Kyrie and Nero were mesmerized by the enormous skyscrapers and the vast number of people walking in the streets, not to mention high car traffic. Kyrie got a bit intimidated with all of that; it was her first time in a big city and the first time out of Fortuna for real.

They arrived at the gate of an enormous and fancy building, perhaps it had more than twenty floors. Once Nico talked with the concierge, a few minutes later, the gates opened. Nico parked the van at a space for visits.

_"Follow me now!"_ Nico told them as she left the van.

The building entrance was so fancy and beautiful that it screamed "rich and high class" to them. At the elevator, Nico typed the floor level on the panel: number forty-two. 

Kyrie got apprehensive as the elevator doors closed. She had to hold Nero's hand to feel more secure around all the top-notch modern technology.

_"Are you sure he's trustworthy?"_ Nero asked, sounding relatively low and a little intimidating.

_"Yeah, yeah, man. Hold your fire. He IS trust-worthy."_ Nico replied quite calmly.

The elevator arrived pretty quickly to the destination. At the entrance hall, there were only two doors. Nico went to knock on the entry labeled as "forty-two A."

A man's voice came from inside, _"password?"_

_"Don't start me with this bullshit, old man!"_ Nico yelled in a mocking tone.

The door opened, and then a man, around fifty years old, showed. He had very thick glasses, a skin color like Nico's with some freckles and dark brown hair. He wasn't so tall, around 1.65 meters(5′41″ft) high, but his curved back made him look smaller, and he had to use a cane to help him walk. 

"Yep! That's my niece!" The man said happily.

"Uncle Vic!" Nico yelled happily.

They both greeted each other with two kisses on the cheeks. 

The man looked at Kyrie and Nero up and down before raising his hand to greet them. "You must be Kyrie and Nero. I'm Victor Dryblood"

Kyrie did a customary handshake with Victor; however, he slowly did one while staring very suspiciously when it came to Nero.

"Nice to meet you!" Kyrie said politely with a smile.

"It's my pleasure. Come inside. I just made tea." He invited them.

The apartment made Kyrie's jaw drop and made Nero astonished. With an open-concept kitchen, the living room was nearly the size of the apartment they had on Fortuna and looked like it came out of an interior design magazine. There were no walls on the outer part of the building; instead, they had large reinforced windows that allowed a panoramic view of the city. The furniture was mostly black and white and very modern looking while the floor was of expensive dark wood.

"Is he… really your uncle?" Nero asked Nico, suspiciously, though still mesmerized by the place.

"Aye, the only part from my father that doesn't suck…" Nico replied with a disgusted tone.

Nero stared at Victor, trying to see something similar to Agnus aside from the hair and skin color, but it was a bit difficult.

_"Agnus is my half-brother, to be exact,"_ Victor explained to them while he got some tea mugs.

Now it made more sense why the lack of resemblance.

As he served the tea, Victor conferred with them, _"So, what brings you here? Nico only told me you're having problems with demonic magic."_

They were silent, feeling a bit uncomfortable to talk about their situation.

Noticing that, Victor pressured them a bit, _"Okay, will Nico have to tell me or what?"_

Nero took a deep breath before speaking in an attempt to gain some confidence. _"What is… Sync? For a demon, of course…"_

That question already helped Victor have an idea of what was going on. He gave a very suspicious look at Nero's face, and he stared deep at the man's tired eyes that weren't even the same shiny blue as they used to be.

_"Take your hood off,"_ Victor requested, not taking his eyes out of Nero's.

He didn't want to, but Nero did so cautiously. The white light from the kitchen's LEDs made Nero's face much clearer. His tired face turned to be much more awful, and his eyes were red as if he had cried for hours. His hair was downright messy, like he had not brushed in days. Some wounds, looking like scratches, were noticeable on his scalp. He felt uncomfortable with all of that exposure to a person he just met.

But what mattered most to Victor were his eyes.

_"Look at me,"_ he imposed.

Nero didn’t move his head, just his eyes to look at the man.

Nero's sclera didn't have a precise shape. It was something between his demon sclera and a human one; the iris color was also in the same state. Analyzing a bit more of Nero's body language, Victor could see he was breathing heavily. Not only this, but his muscles were exhausted, and under his large coat probably had a very unhealthy body.

_"Who told you about Sync?"_ he questioned.

_"Trish did," Nero replied quickly while he brought his hood back up... "She also told me you would know what to do about my… 'desync problem.'"_

Victor gazed at Nero's form a bit more before speaking _, "I knew it… You're desyncing… but... at this age?"_

_"What? This is a child thing?"_ Kyrie asked.

_"No… it's a baby thing,"_ Victor said in a worrisome tone in the end.

Nero let out a sarcastic laughing, with a bit of worrying in the end. _"Great,"_ he said ironically. _"What happens with me now then?"_

_"If you don't Sync with your parents…"_ he made a dramatic pause… _"you will die,"_ Victor said rather seriously, taking off Nero's ironic smile at the same moment.

They stayed in dead silence for a few seconds, trying to process the information.

_"But…"_ Nico interviewed, _"Vergil is with Dante, and they are still in Hell…"_

_"They… what?!"_ Victor accidentally lost his composure.

_"They got themselves trapped, I guess, in Hell to destroy the remaining Qliphoth roots,"_ Nero said in a low yet angry voice.

_"Wait! What they have to do with you?"_ Victor questioned, quite apprehensive.

Nero let out an annoyed sigh, _"According to Dante… Vergil is my father…"_

Victor's skin turned pale the moment he heard that, and he started to sweat cold. He let his teacup fall off and splatter tea and the cup pieces all over the floor. He got nervous and began to look away as if he had a terrible realization. 

_"Oh, shoot! Uncle! You're okay?"_ Nico spoke, worried.

It was when, looking at the broken teacup in the ground, Kyrie noticed Victor's prosthetic left leg, that would explain the need for a cane, perhaps?

_"NO WAY!"_ Victor slammed the desk in rage. _"T-T-THAT…! BIG ASS MORRON! If I only knew…"_

_"Who you're talking about?"_ Nico was quite confused.

_"Da-Dante! That idiot! He n-n-never told me Vergil had a child!"_ Victor continued to yell angrily.

Drifting his mind away for a moment, Nero thought, _"The stutter is a family thing?"_

Since Nero didn't seem to want to talk, Kyrie went ahead and asked Victor, _"Do you know Dante?"_

_"Yes, he and Vergil are my oldest clients."_ He replied, slowly regaining his sanity.

_"Why did you get so mad? He hasn't told you about Nero?"_ Kyrie asked, rather confusedly.

Looking at Kyrie now, he replied, _"Dante only told me he left the Yamato with Nero. I don't know why he hasn't told me everything… But… all the Qliphoth mess could've been avoided, I wouldn't have to tell Vergil about the Yamato either."_

_"YOU WHAT?!"_ Nero snapped back to the conversation. _"You sent him?! Do you have any idea what he did to me?!"_

He walked furiously towards Victor at the other side of the table, his fits clenched, ready to do something insane.

_"HE RIPPED MY ARM OFF, DUDE!"_ he shouted, his teeth turning sharper and his eyes slowly turning a bright yellow.

_"Stay away from him!"_ Kyrie yelled at him, putting her staff between them. 

_"What's wrong with you?! Let's hear his side of the story first!"_ she scolded though her face showed visible confusion and concern. Nico was staring at him as well, terrified.

Nero growled as he irrationally wanted to punch Victor in the face. He noticed Victor got ready to grab some sort of small weapon by his waist under the coat, but he couldn't tell what it was. Fortunately, he decided to listen to Kyrie and walked away from him.

Looking back at Victor, Kyrie asked softly, _"Please, explain more... How can you tell that if Nero helped Vergil, it would avoid the Qliphoth event? We know nothing about how hybrids work, to be honest."_

Before speaking, Victor took a deep breath. _"I noticed…"_ he whispered. _"Have you heard about the Magic Spectrum?"_

Kyrie shook her head.

_"Ahem! So, there's a thing called 'Magic Spectrum.' Imagine a ruler that begins at minus one, the middle is zero, and the other end is plus one. 'Zero' is called 'Void,' also known as everything alive on Earth; Humans, cats, bugs, fishes, etcetera. When you start walking to the minus one edge, you have the demons. Closer to the edge, the stronger the demon.”_

_"What about the plus one edge?"_ Kyrie interrupted him.

_"Those would be the angels,"_ Nico answered.

_"Angels are real?"_ Nero questioned, surprised but not leaving his angry face.

Victor then responded, _"They were once, but no Angel has been seen since the demons expunged them from Earth more than two thousand years ago… They are considered extinct."_

Still, without taking his eyes off Nero, he continued, _"So! We, 'The Voids', are called like that not just because we aren't magical, but we are as the name says: 'We are empty.' Our bodies are ready to receive magic. Hybrids like you are still a Void, but a "filled void." You're the best of both worlds. You stay within the spectrum from zero to whatever it is close to minus one. That's why you have to build up your magic, also known as 'Devil Triggering,' to use your full demon potential. Let's say that you can…' walk on the spectrum.'"_

Nero raised his eyebrows since some things were starting to make sense.

_"But now…"_ Victor continued. _"There's the minor spectrum or 'personal spectrum' like some of my area like to call it. Imagine that all magic is like a radio, sending and receiving signals. Each being has its own signal frequency, like magic DNA. A newborn's magic doesn't know how to keep their frequency stabilized and needs their parent's aid to do so… Or siblings from the same parents. It also works between them, but with half efficiency. The Synchronization process is when a parent and their offspring connect their 'radios,' syncing their frequencies."_

Nero quickly interrupted him, _"Okay… so… I would have to… 'Sync' with Vergil for this shit stop happening with me?"_

_"Yes, it's the only existing method in your case, and if I had known about you, I would have told Vergil, and you would have been able to save him too. Syncing with Vergil would heal him magically-wise and also put yours in place."_

Nico then questioned, _"What happened to Vergil?"_

_"The consequences of his own actions."_ Victor started to explain with a bit of sadness in tone behind. _"Vergil tried to beat Mundus, the Demon King back then but ended up being slaved. Somehow he managed to break free from Mundus' corruption, but that had cost a lot of him."_

And so, Victor told them about the last time he'd spoken with Vergil:

  
  


**_Back to 30 May - 04:20 AM_ **

Victor was manipulating a golden orb inside a glass box in his laboratory when his phone started to ring out loud, nearly scaring his soul out of his body. With a bit of difficulty, since he was in a wheelchair at this point, he answered after a few rings but could only hear someone deep breathing on the other side. 

_"Hello?"_ he said with suspicion.

_"Ooooh…. good… it's the same… number… *cough cough*"_ said a man with a feeble and ill voice.

_"Who is it?"_ Victor called out.

_"It's me… Ve...Vergil… I need some information from you… quick…"_

It was Vergil at a phone cabinet somewhere around Fortuna. He was wearing a filthy cloak, and his skin was starting to crack like arid soil. He suddenly coughed so hard he threw out blood all over the phone.

_"VE-VER-VERGIL?!"_ Victor shouted. _"A-A-ARE YOU ALIVE?! H-Have you sur-survived Mundus' corruption?!_

_"...Aah… So… Dante told -cough cough- told you…"_ he kinda seemed to be surprised.

_"H-How?! or… Who?!"_ Victor asked, terrified.

Vergil held his voice and breath before speaking out loud, letting out grief from deep down his throat, _"...She killed him -cough- he didn't deserve that…! -cough cough- I couldn't protect him!... It was just like that day… -cough cough cough- all over again!"_

_"Who?! The one who helped you?!"_ Victor asked quickly since Vergil appeared to be in a rush.

_"...It doesn't matter… for you… Do you know where Yamato is…?!"_ Vergil started to sound angry.

_"Yes… Dante found it and left it in the pro-protection of a young man in Fortuna. H-H-He keeps the Yamato safe in his demonic arm…But a-anyway! Where are you?! You ne-need help!"_

Vergil started to sound much weaker, _"I just need my sword… I need power…-cough cough- I can't die… yet…But... my magic is killing me…"_

Without imagining what was about to happen, Victor let out: _"Dante can help you with that."_

_"NO! I RATHER DIE!"_ Vergil screamed in rage, his voice distorted by his decaying health.

Out of patience with Vergil's pride, Victor screamed at him through the call, _"Vergil! For Sparda's sake! Stop with this hate towards your brother! It's not what you're thinking! You are distorting everything!"_

Victor is interrupted when he hears some insanely and low laughing from the other side:

_"The Qliphoth fruit… it will give me…"_

_"power…!"_ Vergil grumbled.

_"NO! The fruit can't help you with that! It will only-!"_ But he's interrupted by the beeps of the sudden finished call.

Desperate from the incoming end of the world, Victor tried to contact Dante. However, every attempt he tried, he always got the same message: the number was inactive or busy.

It didn't matter how many times he tried anyway; Dante hadn't paid the electric bills.

**_Hell - Nowadays - Apparently night time…?_ **

The sky was dark and the wind very cold; only the light of the two -supposedly- moons were illuminating the landscape. The very light color was brighter, and every dark color was darker.

At the remains of the dead Qliphoth roots, sounds of intense wind bursts accompanied by electrostatic waves could be heard from far away. Many rotting bodies of defeated demons were lying around the large open area of the place. The scent of putrid meat was powerful, scaring some demons but luring others. 

At the center of it was a massive portal made with Yamato's and Vergil's magic.

Dante was running straight forward to the portal. Unfortunately, every time he touched it, the portal immediately tossed him back like a trampoline. He couldn't pass through to the other side. 

Getting annoyed by his brother's pointless insistence, Vergil called for him. _"Dante!"_ \- Dante runs again - _"Dante, stop!"_

The same result threw him back, this time closer to Vergil. Dante turned to his brother, and somewhat annoyed, he asked, _"Are you sure this is the strongest portal you know how to make?"_

Vergil wanted to respond in the same tone for much of his annoyance, but he replied quite calmly instead. _"Yes. I used to do this for Mundus' most powerful minions. But with the power of Yamato, it should be ten times stronger!"_

While they were discussing, a few other demons, such as Hell Cainas and Riots, used their distraction to pass through the portal, making sure they would do it quickly. 

But the brothers were watching then, although just to observe what would happen: all the demons traversed the portal without any issues.

After witnessing that scene, Dante raised his arms, pointing with hands wide open, at the portal with a very annoyed yet surprised face. 

_"How then?!"_ he nervously yelled at his brother.

Vergil took a deep breath before speaking. _"I don't know! There are only two possible explanations. Either we are too powerful now, OR as hybrids, we need some sort of special portal… or both..."_

Dante got up from the ground very tired, slapping the thick dirty out of his clothes, and lowering a bit his voice and nerves he said, _"Did you feel what I felt a few days ago, right? Some bad shit is going on in the human world!"_

_"I know, brother, I know…"_ Vergil responded solemnly. 

Dante staring at the closing portal, tsked before speaking. _"Nero will kill us…"_ he said, worried.

Vergil stared into the closing portal as well. But some thoughts began to storm his mind over this complicated situation he and his brother were in now.

The thoughts didn't take too much to get heavier, making Vergil change his gaze to the ground. 

_"None of this would be happening If I could protect Baby…"_ he whispered with an odd, sad tone.

_"Eh?" Who? Nero's mother?"_ Dante asked, confused about what Vergil was talking about.

_"No,"_ Vergil responded drily without making eye contact.

_"Da fuck? To be called "baby," who else would be? A child?"_ He questioned Vergil, now more confused than before.

Getting in the middle of their conversation, loud thunderclaps shouted in the sky.

Vergil got scared at the same moment and suddenly started to run away. _"We must find cover! Quick!"_

_"Why bother? Scared of getting a little wet?"_ Dante tried to mock his brother, that was a bit far already.

Without warning, a small rock in flames passed too close to Dante's shoulder. It did, however, burn the man's shoulder pad, which created a small fire.

_"VERGIL! WAIT!"_ Dante screamed while he tried to catch up with his brother.

They both ran away quickly, trying to find shelter around the remains of the colossal roots to protect themselves from the fireball rain.

**To be continued...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't be shy to comment your thoughts about the story! It's a very important feedback! If you do so, be nice of course <3


	3. Baby and Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vergil have a very long story to tell Dante about a dear friend he once had. Meanwhile, Nero also have a story of a special friend to tell too.
> 
> *not recommended to read if having a bad day/mood*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Full Proofreaded by Hotspot-the-626th(@deviantart)  
> Proofreaded a bit by @wikimb  
> Guest Artist: @wikimb  
> Word count: 12934
> 
> Trigger Warning: Graphic depictions of heavy violence/gore, depression cases, PTSD breakdowns(abandoment/bullying/death), severe illness, physical torture(due illness) and emotinal breakdown.

**_Void Realm(aka Human World) - Same Day 11:30 PM_**

Victor decided to tell his three visitors everything he knew. Sparda's twins, Sparda's story, the day Eva was killed, the mess of Temen-ni-gru, and at the end, what happened in Mallet Island.

During dinner, Nero, Kyrie, and Nico told Victor all they knew. This included what they remembered about the Fortuna Incident and the Qliphoth Event.

 _"And now they're probably stuck in Hell,"_ Nero finished.

 _"I see…"_ Victor said quite thoughtful. _"The problem is… the Qliphoth fruit helped Vergil to heal his destroyed magic and not make him overpowered like he thought it would happen. But I can't be sure if it also helped with his synchronization. Either way, you two doing Sync will be of great benefit for both."_

Nero didn't say a thing. Just the slight idea of interacting with Vergil, his so-called blood father, again made his nerves itch.

 _"But…"_ Victor kept saying. _"How could you live this long? Without one of your parents to sync with, you should have died at a very young age, like… two years old."_

Nero continued to be quiet, trying to understand why Victor was insisting so much.

Initially, he thought about the day he met Shooting Star Man; he was two years old, the "death age" Victor mentioned. But he'd rather not talk about that with a new person just like that. Not even Nico knew about it yet.

 _"Don't you remember Syncing with some woman?"_ Victor tried to help Nero recall some memory.

 _"I don't even know how to Sync, dude."_ Nero contested, a bit annoyed.

Before continuing to speak, Victor had to adjust his glasses. "Well… from what my mother could briefly study about the twins, Syncing in hybrids can give some 'bonuses.' Both participants can somehow connect mentally. They can feel what the other is feeling and as well as share memories and knowledge. As for the magic, the twins described it as something very relaxing and peaceful - they didn't know it was a demon magic thing back then, but you got it."

 _"The peace thing makes sense since the magic energy is calming down,"_ Nico added to Victor's explanation.

After the brief explanation, Nero couldn't help but make a surprised face.

 _"Oh. Have you just remembered something?"_ Victor asked when he noticed Nero's reaction.

Nero was able to recall something, but just the fact of having to tell them that was making him sweat cold. He had a feeling it wasn't a good idea.

  
  


**_Hell - Same moment_ **

Vergil and Dante were able to find a shelter to protect themselves from the fire rain. They both sat inside a small cavern inside a massive root in the middle of the Qliphoth tree's decaying remains.

Dante was quite relaxed. He was laying his back in a small root, calmly waiting for the end of the rain.

Vergil sat a bit in front of his brother. He seemed to be tense for no apparent reason; he tapped his feet nervously and rubbed his hands as if they were itching or something.

Once Dante couldn't stand his brother's silence anymore, he got out of his place, walking on his knees. When he got closer, he said, _"Bro, relax a little. You're too tense"_ , and he gave a small tap on Vergil's right shoulder, unexpectedly making him do a little hop like a cat. 

_"Geez! Chill it."_ Dante said, quite surprised. _"I'm not gonna attack you."_ He then moved a few steps backward when his brother stared at him with eyes wide open, scared.

Vergil couldn't think of something to reply to his brother. He was too surprised by how calm he was at that hostile place. Such behavior didn't make sense to him; they could be attacked at any moment by some wild demon, but even so, Dante was very chill.

Vergil then returned his gaze to the outside, leaving his brother in awkward silence.

The atmosphere started to make Dante feel uncomfortable; he recently had made up with his brother, thus regaining their brotherly rivalry. That was the first time since their childhood they weren't fighting or discussing; instead, they were just sitting in silence close to each other.

Vergil could feel Dante's restless energy coming from behind him, but he had no idea what to say either. 

Deep in their hearts, both had questions to ask the other, but neither had a single clue how to start a conversation. At least none that wasn't about who's with the highest score.

After long minutes of watching a literal fire rain, Dante was the one who finally dared to break the ice: _"Soooooo… Brother… Who was that 'Baby' you whispered about earlier? I swore you were talking about Nero's mom… Also! How was sh-?"_

Vergil quickly interrupted him, rolling his eyes in annoyance. _"I told you already; you will learn more about her when I tell Nero about it. He deserves to know that first."_

Dante got annoyed by his brother's supposed etiquette. Still, regardless, he continued in his attempt to create a conversation. _"Okay… but, what about the 'Baby'... person…? I guess? You got me curious, man! Especially about the part, 'this wouldn't be happening' thing,"_ he said as he was getting a bit closer to Vergil again.

Vergil's ordinarily stoic expression drastically changed to an uncomfortable one. He looked at the sky, took a deep breath, and let out a sorrowful sigh. _"'Baby' was… a child… That wasn't his name, just what I used to call him. I never knew his name or how he came to be…"_

Dante highly doubted Vergil's words. _"What?! How? That doesn't make any sense yet. You gotta work on those explanations, bro."_

_"You remember what happened on Mallet Island? After you… -sigh- beat me?"_ Vergil replied with a bit of annoyance in the end.

_"Uhh… yeah, you disappeared in a light…"_

Vergil took a few seconds of silence, mentally gathering all the information he felt necessary to tell his brother before starting his explanation. _"I honestly don't know how I did that… probably had something to do with Mundus' magic… I got teleported to somewhere else."_

Surprisingly, Dante got quiet, and Vergil had his full attention. Vergil didn't look behind him, but he could tell that Dante was staring at him like a curious child waiting for a new bedtime story.

Vergil cleaned his throat before continuing - _"Thanks to you, I started to be able to have myself under my control again. I then began trying to fight Mundus' corruption over me, although the more I tried, the more it tormented me. Until I had an idea that would cost much more than I expected…_ " 

Dante's eyes opened wide with curiosity but also of worry about the incoming words.

 _"Under all that pain...I truly panicked… and tried to Devil Trigger in an attempt to fight the corruption…"_ Vergil said low, recalling the pain of the said moment.

Dante gasped silently, even not knowing what happened, he was sure that terrible things had happened.

Vergil's voice started to get low and crumbling as those memories were like a living nightmare. _"I could feel all my muscles and bones being crushed and twisted by the fight of the magical energies inside me. I couldn't scream, I could barely breathe and move either… I have no idea how much time has passed too."_

Dante noticed that his brother started to feel apprehensive about that subject. Vergil was slightly sweating cold and pressing his hands against each other firmly.

But before Dante thought of something to say, Vergi continued to tell the story. _"I can remember some very random and quick things that happened… I fought other demons… even humans, and perhaps Devil Hunters too? I don't know, but I swore I was destined to feel that pain for eternity, until…"_

**_Void Realm - at the same moment_ **

_"So, Nero," Victor called his attention. "Have you just remembered something?"_

But Nero didn't respond. He was reluctant to speak; they couldn't tell if it was because of his health state or something else. Kyrie tried to call him back to the conversation, "It's about Monster, dear?" she said in a soft voice.

He raised his head a bit to look at her. With a sad face, he replied low and insecure, _"Yeah... "_

He stayed quiet once again, staring at the void for a few seconds and avoiding eye-contact. Nico was getting anxious to know what was passing through Nero's mind, but Victor kept patiently waiting.

Finally, he looked at Victor and said, _"I think… there was someone I connected with this way… but… he was a human that turned into a demon."_

Victor raised his eyebrows in surprise, that didn't make much sense, but he decided to not question. Nero was already emotionally unstable; it was better not provoke. 

_"Let's hear it then. If you don't mind telling the story,"_ he asked politely.

Nero took a deep breath before starting. That subject wasn't that comfortable for him to talk about freely. "I was around six or seven years old, the de-sync started to happen with higher frequency day by day… The other kids from the orphanage, especially the older ones, never liked me. One day they were chasing me down in the woods on the outskirts of the city. I did not want to fight, but they still kept hunting me. They wouldn't be satisfied until I passed out." Nero explained.

 _"Why?"_ Nico asked, confused.

A bit uncomfortable with the subject, he tried to avoid, _"I'd rather not talk about…"_

He then continued without making eye contact with Victor. He just continued to look at his own hands and sometimes to the void or away. _"I couldn't run anymore. That's when they got me. The oldest was ready to punch me, but suddenly, a horrendous deformed… giant demon appeared from behind the trees. He was like, what? four meters(13ft) high? He didn't need much to scare the shit out of them and send them back to the city. Just a roar was enough."_

Kyrie was the only one that already knew the story and how Nero would feel about it. She honestly wanted to speak in his place, but she felt better letting him put his feelings out by himself.

 _"I was the only one that didn't run. I was too tired already… and I didn't want to return to the orphanage either."_ Nero said in a depressing tone

**_(Hell)_ **

_"Were you attacked?"_ Dante asked curiously yet worried.

_"No,"_ Vergil responded. _"The others fled away very quickly, and that last one didn't do anything either. I wasn't going to waste my energy and feel more pain for no danger at all."_

**_(Void)_ **

_"But the motherfucker didn't do shit,"_ Nero added. _"He left me hanging and just turned away!"_

_"When I saw him turning away, I yelled, 'What are you doing?' But he completely ignored me!"_

_"I yelled again, 'What's wrong with you?'."_

**_(Hell)_ **

_"The kid came after me, but I didn't want to waste my energy. When I felt him touching my arm and yelling something - that I can't remember - I instinctively just waved my arm and threw him away."_

**_(Void)_ **

_"I flew into a tree, and all the stuff I was carrying in my small backpack got scattered around,"_ Nero continued, his voice slowing down.

_"You will need more than that to get rid of me!' I shouted to provoke him… but…"_

He makes a pause.

_"But when I looked at him…"_

_"He was staring at one of the books I borrowed from the public library. He simply stayed there, kinda hypnotized by the thing, you know?"_

_"With the only hand he had - the right one - he tried to pick up the book. His hand was huge, and he knew that… but I think… he had terrible eyesight. The first few times he tried to hold the book, he let it fall because he didn't want to… 'hurt' it."_

_"He tried, over and over again. That scene was pitiful, to be honest. At a certain point, he started to whimper… kinda like a dog's painful crying, 'wimp wimp wimp.'"_

_"And he tried... again and again, and again... the more he tried, the louder the wimps we're getting."_

_"He was clearly in a panic… until… he let out a very long and painful scream. It was when I noticed… he wasn't supposed to be like that...."_

Victor interrupts, _"Why? What made you think that?"_

Nero responded with sadness in his voice as he looked at Victor, " _He was crying… Only through the right eye, but he was truly crying."_

_"'Do Devils cry?' I asked myself."_

_"During the screeching, he suddenly lost support on his left arm - the most severe and disproportionate one - and fell to the ground. The arm started to bleed around.. where I think it was the pulse… I couldn't tell, but the broken bone pierced through his skin. I noticed that the rest of his body had various open wounds. That shit surely was hurting him badly. He then started to whimper uncontrollably while he was spitting blood out of the month. He was insanely trying to get up again, but he barely could move his body."_

_"I don't know what the hell happened with me at that moment, but seeing and hearing all that suffering from him was starting to hurt me. I could feel my heart being pressed. My body moved by itself, I took off my jacket and went to try to... somehow help with the wound on his left pulse."_

**_(Hell)_ **

_"I don't clearly remember how I got into that situation,"_ Vergil continued. _"I only remember very blurry images and immeasurable pain all over my body, especially at my left arm."_

_"In the middle of all that pain, I somehow noticed the kid getting closer to me. I tried to move away from him, but that only made the pain worse… I was unable to move."_

_"I couldn't see him clearly, but I heard, 'you weren't supposed to be like that, right?' from him."_

_"I remember… my heart and breath stopped when I heard he saying, 'Let me help you, stay quiet.'"_

Vergil started to get visibly shaken from that point in front.

_"Why? He could just have run away… but instead… he came to help me?! Why?! WHY?!"_

_"I guess... he put some bandages on my left hand… I couldn't move or see it anyway…"_

A bit shocked by his brother's confusion, Dante asked, _"Why were you so skeptical?"_

Vergil turned at him quickly, his face of both anger and sadness. _"WHY?! Because never in my entire life had someone lent a hand to me like that! Not even if I asked!"_

Vergil recalled for a moment the difficult time he had after his mother's death. Food shop owners didn't want to spare not even the smallest thing for him. Some even shouted him out with the excuse he was acting up. He couldn't find a good place to sleep, and winter was a pain. He had to fight demons all alone. He had to manage to steal food and clothes or get them from the trash as a last resort.

_"I didn't have the same luck as you, brother…"_ Vergil said harshly.

**_(Void)_ **

All those memories were starting to make Nero more emotional. Recalling the monster's pain was very hurtful even to himself.

_"I never discovered what turned him into that… but he was destroyed…"_ he added.

Victor then questioned, _"And you just decided to help him? Just like that?"_

_"Yes… something told me he needed help… I had a feeling he didn't deserve that…"_ Nero said, quite sad.

But even being visibly shaken, he continued the story either way. _"Through the next days, I decided to start stealing everything I thought could be the use of help with his open wounds."_

Nico interrupted, _"Steal, man? why?"_

_"Who would believe in a six-year-old saying he needs help with a dying demon?!"_ Nero replied, annoyed. _"I had to do it myself. Blankets, towels, curtains, all those kinds of stuff I could get around the city, not just in the orphanage…"_

-a pause-

_"Also food… and the medicine I knew helped with such wounds, the one I remember the caretakers using on me."_

Nero's tone slowly began to sound grievous. _"He didn't leave the place I first saw him… he just waited for me there every day…"_

_"He couldn't move. Every time he tried, he had to do so much strength. He was also… so cold... I tried to cover him the best I could… but even so… he couldn't stop shivering. I could see that even those smallest moves hurt a lot… even breathing..."_

_"His wounds weren't fresh. It was tough for me to make some bandages and mostly use the medicine… because whenever I tried, he would start panicking and whimpering all over again."_

_"I used to say things like, 'Stop, please! I can't help you like this!' or 'cooperate, please!' to try to keep him calm, but his pain also made me nervous as well."_

_"The food was the most difficult. The merchants got sharp eyes. The ones that knew me even got so mad that they started to throw stones at me."_

Nico quickly stopped Nero's talk, _"What the hell?! Fucking stones?!"_

He stared at her, but his eyes were blank. Then he said, with a low and grievous voice, in which everyone could sense the pain in his words, _"When you are the... 'bastard, son of a whore, demon magnetic child' people just don't care about you…"_

Nico didn't expect that. Her face was utterly shocked, which made her dead silent.

_"I didn't care about myself… I just wanted to bring him food and water too. He needed help to eat and drink nonetheless. He used to eat and drink desperately, getting himself dirtier than he already was… he was definitely on his limit…"_

Nero let out a desolate sigh while his eyes were getting teary.

**_(Hell)_ **

Vergil's voice started to sound more painful, the more he talked about the child. _"The kid kept bringing new things everyday… cover sheets, bandages, food… even water, and… medicine...I think? I barely could move anymore anyway… I could only stay in the same place and watch…"_

Dante started to feel his brother slowly getting more emotional with the subject. Vergil's voice became low, and he was also starting to discreetly sniff. His body was tense, and his expression was full of sadness. _"He… he wasn't bringing all that stuff for himself… he brought blankets for covering me, to help me not suffer that much from the cold nights in the woods… "_

_"His voice… I'm sure I was mishearing every pitch… but he sounded so… soft. 'Here's some food,' 'come on,' 'try to drink this,' 'I hope you don't feel so cold now'... and some many others."_

_"My vision was a total mess. The colors were switched, the forms were distorted, I never got to know how he truly was or how he sounded… Or even if the scent I remember was his true smell…"_ Vergil vented, as he remembered every single sensation of being taken care of by the kid. The way the child had to hold his large head up for him to drink water.

How he had to pick every single food into tiny pieces because Bergil couldn't chew. The child trying to cover his gigantic deformed body with small cover sheets or even towels.

Breaking Vergil's nostalgia trip, Dante asked him, _"So… you never actually got to 'know him for real'?"_

_"I think…"_ \- a pause - _"yeah… you're right…"_ Vergil told him but looking away to the dark sky and the raining fire in Hell.

_"I don't know how he did that… but there were times he used to hug me, or even just touch, and the pain almost went away completely… It was the only time when I was able to breathe without pain for a few minutes..."_

He closed his eyes, recalling those moments of calm and inner peace. Those were some of the memories he held dearest, the sensation of being hugged by the child, or at least he thought it was. A particular feeling was when the kid stroked his head and sang lullabies to calm him down. Such a gentle touch from his tiny hands on his wounds was something he could never forget, even if that used to hurt as well.

Before opening his eyes, Vergil let out a deep sigh, making Dante understand how much that unknown kid meant to his brother. He was starting to connect the dots with what Vergil said earlier.

_"Why?"_ Vergil said in an indignant tone. _"Why did he do all that to me?!"_

He turned to Dante, he was bewildered and doubtful, _"What I did to that kid?! Why did he help me and not want anything in return?! He never requested something back!"_

Dante's eyes wide-opened, surprised about his brother's confusion, and he asked himself, _"He didn't understand what happened?"_

Vergil's voice became louder as he was letting out old thoughts of painful memories, _"Why, brother?! WHY!? Some days, he appeared with wounds; he said it was the people who didn't like him. They hurt him and pushed him away because they didn't want to give the stuff to him. I could smell the blood, his wounds...he…-inhales- Why was he sacrificing himself?! He was doing all that to me… TO MEEEE! A PITIFUL WEAK USELESS THING I WAS!"_

__

Dante even leaned back, scared after Vergil's last scream. That behavior was entirely unexpected coming from such a person that is always composed.

_"I was weak! I was dying! No one cares for a weakened demon. They just let them die! He could have called hunters to finish me… BUT NO! He did the total opposite!"_ Vergil kept yelling, extremely confused.

_"I remember the stories he told me… and sometimes, during moments of physical contact, I saw some of his...memories? I guess they were. He was an orphan! No one wanted him, everyone else hated him for no reason, and the older kids used to hurt him for fun! HE WAS JUST A LITTLE KID! Why didn't he ask me to pay those people back in return for the favors he was doing to me?! That's not how it was supposed to work?!"_ Vergil yelled while huffing out of breath.

Dante gently touched Vergil's shoulder and just gave a calm look at him, like telling him to take easy on his nerves. Understanding his brother's signals, Vergil took an intense breath in an attempt to calm down. Still, his disturbed face and stiff body remained.

_"That's called empathy, bro…"_ Dante said softly.

Vergil took a moment to process what Dante said, but he kept looking at him, confused. _"What?!"_ he yelled.

Dante hardly believed that his brother never experienced an act of empathy before and stared at him confused as well.

_"Empathy. You know… that thing about being able to understand what the other is feeling? To put yourself in the place of the other?"_ Dante tried to explain, but that only made Vergil more confused. His silence and doubtful face made the situation more awkward for Dante - making him visibly worried.

_"Well… it's a human heart thing… Empathy generates compassion, and that's what moved the kid to help you. He understood your suffering and decided to help you out. He didn't see you like what you described; he saw you as a living being."_ Dante tried again.

Vergil was slowly starting to understand. It didn't take much for him to recall Nero helping him when he was V, and also the people himself helped when he was V during the Qliphoth roots' rampage.

_"That's what moves humans to help others? That's how it's called?"_ Vergil asked, confused.

_"Yes!"_ Dante replied happily and a bit relieved. _"Such strong empathy like that kid is incredibly rare to be witnessed, especially nowadays. People like that must be protected at all costs, not just because of their kind heart, but also because they can kill themselves because of it. Humans like that are worth fighting for."_

Dante's words made Vergil a bit uneasy, as if he did something wrong with the kid during a part of the story he hasn't told yet.

And Dante kept talking. _"That's what is amazing about humans. But... demons think that's a weakness… well, that's, in fact, a weakness. It's dangerous, but it's also their strongest point! For demons, self-preservation is more important than anything; meanwhile, some humans don't give a shit about that if it's necessary to protect what is important. They rather die sacrificing themselves, and for demons, that's a shame, especially coming from a species that's magically and physically inferior…"_

_"Unfortunately…"_ Dante's enthusiasm vanished away very quickly. _"Mankind has created such a society over the past decades where it's being suppressed...by themselves! And apathy is going apeshit everywhere… This is another reason why those kinds of people should be safeguarded… otherwise, mankind will only keep hurting itself."_

_"I think… 'Apathy' should be considered a Deadly Sin… since the current seven are all based on it…"_ he said, scratching his head.

They stayed silent for a few seconds; hence Vergil had no idea about what Dante said at the end. They both returned to gaze at the fire raining (supposedly)night sky for a few minutes until Vergil broke the silence: _"These kind people you said… It's pretty much like Baby and… Nero…"_

_"Yeah, you're right…"_ Dante said calmly without looking at Vergil. 

_"This thing of sacrifice itself…"_ Vergil then continued the story, but talking at a more slow pace, _"There was one day… Baby didn't come… I was like, 'I was abandoned again?'_

_"Aah…About that..."_ Dante interrupted, a bit unnerved.

But Vergil responded quickly, _"I know! But back then, I didn't! -ahem- I was finally able to get up a bit and worried something may have happened. I decided to pursue his scent…"_

**_(Void)_ **

Nero continued to tell his story, even with the feeling of his throat closing because of the incoming subject. _"It was challenging to take care of him… He didn't have the strength to lift his head or to chew some food… Gosh… He smelled so bad, such a strong scent of dry blood and… other disgusting stuff - if you know what I mean - but eventually, I learned how to ignore that awful scent. He used to shiver so much… his extremity members were cold like ice…"_

-a pause for a deep breath-

He then continued. _"Every little movement he tried to do, he whimpered in pain… he barely could leave the place we first met. I was getting used to calming him down. Using some gentle physical contact like strokes on his head… but even so…"_

-sigh-

_"There were some moments I hugged or when I just touched him, and I could feel what he was feeling… it was an immeasurable pain… Other moments… -It's very confusing, to be honest- But I think I was able to see his memories? I guess...?"_

_"How did they look?"_ Victor asked, interrupting Nero.

_"Aah… well… a huge old man, long-ass beard and with feathery wings… hmmm.. aaaaand... aaaa... red, third eye…? He was all white, as if he was a statue and had a huge hole in his chest. He always appeared to be torturing him…"_ Nero said, a bit uneasy, he remembered that as if it was his memories. 

Victor closed his eyes and let out a concerned sigh, he knew Nero was talking about Mundus, but that wasn't the moment to tell him.

Nero looked at him worried, not understanding what was going on, although he suspected it wasn't something well.

_"Just… keep going,"_ Victor said apprehensively.

_"The ones that scared me the most was when the old man was taking off his members, like, literally. He used them to create monsters…"_ Nero shivered just with the slightly recalling his eyes even got teary from thinking about that.

He quickly passed his hand on his eyes to wipe off the tears before someone could notice them. _"That always made me jumpy, those images and some others were always storming his thoughts… I guess it was his thoughts… He cried every time I saw them…"_

_"Considering his reactions about those images and the state he was… I think he didn't deserve to be like that… he wasn't like that because he wanted… I think that old man did that to him… -sigh- ...he was so needy… he hanged his head in my lap every time I used to sit closer..."_

Nero's eyes got more watery than before. He tried once again to hold his emotions and clean his eyes. 

Before continuing, he took a deep breath to focus back and keep posture. _"Well… One day, I was trying to stealthily leave the orphanage… but the older kids got me. They were so pissed at me because they discovered it was me that had stolen some of their things… Pfft! They used to destroy and also steal my stuff… so fuck them. But I couldn't escape that time… and I was missing the hour to go meet with Monster…"_

**_(Hell)_ **

_"I followed his trail with a bit of difficulty, mostly because of the pain all over my body, but I could find him,"_ Vergil continued.

_"Somehow I could hear more people around… so, I stayed behind some trees… or was it a wall? Well..."_ but he hesitated to continue.

_"What was happening?"_ Dante asked curiously.

_"Some of the other kids… I guess… they were not much taller than him and were apparently fighting him. They had the advantage in numbers. He couldn't handle them all."_ Vergil said low.

_"How did you know who he was?"_ Dante questioned.

_"I learned how to recognize him… somehow… his shape and colors we're different from the others as well as his scent…"_ Vergil answered.

_"I remember the other ones saying, 'You freak! You're not just the son of a whore but also a thief?', 'What are you doing with our stuff?' I could feel his tiredness of the fight, he then replied: 'I needed them for a…"_ Vergil suddenly paused as if something got stuck on his throat.

_"I needed them for a…?"_ Dante repeated, anxious for the end of the phrase.

Vergil kept quiet for almost a minute, holding back his next word. He was visibly tense, but Dante attempted to incentive him to continue with the story: _"Brother? What happened then?"_

No answers; although Vergil had closed his eyes and was biting his lips in tension, he was holding his emotions the maximum he could.

_"Bro… listen…"_ Dante said softly while he put his hand on Vergil's shoulder. _"Don't hold back your feelings like this… Put it out, let them go…"_

But his brother continued immobile.

_"I'm not gonna judge or mock you… I promise."_ Dante continued to try to convince Vergil. _"Look, you can even stab me as much as your heart desires if I do something I shouldn't."_

Vergil let out his held breath a little, and something Dante never expected happened, not even when they were kids. Vergil's eyes started to become teary. 

Yes, tears. Dante couldn't believe what he was witnessing.

_"Friend,"_ Vergil said low and with grief.

_"He said… 'I needed them for a friend' -sniff- 'I have a friend that needs help, but you wouldn't help me anyway,'"_ Vergil said with agony in his voice.

_"Friend… friend… friend...FRIEND!"_ He then turned quickly to look at Dante and shouted in pain, _"HE CALLED ME HIS FRIEND!"_ and a few tears rolled out in his face.

_"WHAT DID I DO?! BROTHER, PLEASE! TELL ME!"_ Vergil screamed in panic and confusion. _"WHAT HAVE I DONE?! WHY HE WAS DOING ALL THAT FOR ME?! I CAN'T UNDERSTAND!"_

_"Why do you think you didn't deserve that?"_ Dante nearly broke Vergil's sanity with that question.

Vergil's expression went blank, as he never thought about that. He could only stutter, trying to come up with an answer. 

_"T-T-That's not how it works… That never happened before… Y-Yo-you got to do something to receive such a thing… right?! RIGHT?!"_ Vergil was on the edge of freaking out.

Dante took a deep breath to not absorb his brother's messed up aura. He kept his voice calm and low as not to provoke him further. _"No, bro… Kindness is not an award; it is a gift. The kid saw something in you and thought you deserved that… What it was, I don't know."_

Vergil's face became blank again. He'd never thought like that before… the way he lived didn't let it anyway; he had no idea about why and how that happened with him.

_"So… what did you do to help the child?"_ Dante asked, rather calmly.

**_(Void)_ **

_"The kids were beating the shit out of me… but I didn't give up on trying to flee from them. I didn't want to fight; I just wanted to return to my… friend."_ Nero continued, his voice getting low while sadness was taking over him.

_"I even tried to explain to them that I was doing that for someone that needed it more than them, but that only made them madder…"_

-a pause-

_"I don't know where he came from, but Monster just suddenly jumped right into the middle of the orphanage's backyard. He roared so loud that he even let a huge blue fire column erupt from his mouth. He came straight for the bullies, and swinging only his right hand, he tossed all of them away in a single hit! POF! ...He then stood over me as if he was trying to shield me or something."_

_"His wounds were bleeding all over again. He must have had a shit ton of strength to reach the orphanage."_

_"The other kids recognized him from that day… the oldest even shouted, 'I knew it! You were a freak, but this is too much!' That only made Monster angrier; he wanted to go for the kill."_

_"He started to prepare another fire breath, but I couldn't let him do that. I jumped in front of him and shouted, 'NO! Don't kill them! It will only make it worse for you!' hoping that he would understand me…"_

_"And that worked?"_ Nico asked nervously with the story.

_"Yes,"_ Nero responded. _"He stopped immediately and looked at me very confused. I also could hear the adults screaming to call the Order's knights at the same moment."_

_"'You have to get out of here,' I yelled. 'They will kill you!'"_

_"I don't think he understood what I meant at first because he suddenly grabbed me by my shirt's collar using his mouth and threw me on his back. He got away from the place very quickly into the woods. I don't know how he was able to stand the pain… he was going relatively fast… and when we were far from the orphanage, he tripped on his own legs and arms."_

_"I was launched off his back, and surprisingly, I didn't blackout when I crashed into a tree. I got up in a rush, and the moment I spotted him, I saw he was bleeding… all over again. He was back to zero. He was whimpering in pain again, but even so, he was trying to get up."_

_"I ran to help him out, I didn't know how I would help him, but I went to try anyway."_

**_(Hell)_ **

_"I don't remember exactly what happened… The next thing I remember is both of us in the woods. I was trying to get up, but my weakened body and the extreme pain weren't letting me."_ Vergil explained with a bit of confusion on his face.

_"'You have to go! The Order's Knights will kill you!' he yelled at me."_

_"Hold up!"_ Dante interrupted. _"' Order'? The Order of the Sword?!"_

_"Yes…"_ Vergil replied, low and slow.

_"You were in Fortuna?!"_ Dante yelled at him, quite stunned.

_"Yes… Don't ask me how…"_ Vergil said with a bit of embarrassment.

**_(Void)_ **

_"I was trying to make him get up… but like… he was countless times bigger than me,"_ Nero said with a sarcastic smile.

_"I was starting to hear the Knights' yelling and running around the woods looking for him. That only made me more nervous… The only thing I had in mind was, 'they will kill him.'"_

_"Out of nowhere, blue light strips appeared around us, and I suddenly had a lot of strength to make him get up. And when I looked at my arms and hands… there were my spectral arms, helping him to stand and move away. They were rather proportional to his size."_

_"I thought out loud: 'What is this? Your magic?! Thanks! That's gonna help a lot!'"_

_"Wait!"_ Victor stopped the story. _"For years, you've thought your demon magic was a gift from him?"_

Nero kept staring at Victor with a surprised yet embarrassed face. _"Oh, well… -scratches his head- I could only use my spectral arms while in contact with him…so..."_

_"Hmm… makes sense. I would expect such thoughts from a six years old that grew up thinking it was a human… well, part human in this case."_ Victor said calmly.

_"Sorry for interrupting. Continue, please."_ He asked politely.

Already thinking about what was coming along the story, Nero was already getting nervous and more shaken once more. 

The sadness in his voice we're getting apparently the more he spoke. _"We ran… and ran… and ran… and if that weren't bad enough, it started to rain. At least it helped clean his wounds a little. It was so dark, but my 'magical arms' could illuminate the way. At some point, we were able to find a small cave. Monster's absurd size and disproportion nearly didn't let him get in, but he could lay down to rest."_

_"I could make my spectral arms disappear, but there were the blue strings there yet...They weren't making any illumination tho."_ Nero said it was a bit uncertain.

_"That's because it isn't something 'material,' it's like...infrared and ultraviolet rays, and only demons and half-demons can see it," Victor explained. "Although, it can be seen with special cameras,"_ he added.

Immediately, Kyrie made a worrisome face, and Nico looked at her scared as well. The lights that only she could see, and apparently Trish, were actual a demon thing and not demon-magic related. That would also explain why Nico couldn't see them. What could that mean? Had Kyrie only obtained demon magic, but it only turned her into one… or she was still turning? After Nero's case, she would need to talk with Victor, but the feeling of uncertainty made her anxious.

_"Ah… that would explain how they didn't find us…"_ Nero continued, without noticing the girls' reaction. Unfortunately, Victor did, and he was already preparing questions for them.

_"When the rain stopped, I went back to where I was taking care of him and got our stuff back. Monster had fainted from tiredness and only woke up the next day."_

_"I didn't return to the orphanage either."_

**_(Hell)_ **

_"I don't remember much about how we got in that cave, but the kid did not return to the city. It was the first time he spent the night with me,"_ Vergil said. 

_"That night was also the first time I had dreams in a long time… but I don't think they were mine. They were memories from the kid…"_ Vergil then made a pause; he remembered the child's memories as if they were his.

Dante was getting nervous since he discovered that the little kid was from Fortuna. He had a feeling that 'Baby' could actually be 'Nero' since he was aware of the Sync's traits and many of what his brother described matched with.

Vergil had let out a sad sigh before continuing to speak. _"I could see more clearly than before how his life was… It also reminded me of mine… The loneliness, pain, and sorrow… But that child didn't have a special sword or demonic powers to take care of himself alone… he was dependent on people that didn't care about him."_

  
  


**_(Void)_ **

_"When Monster woke up, I was outside the cave, wondering what I would do about my little life… The orphanage people definitely wouldn't want me back, and I was one hundred percent sure I wouldn't be adopted after what happened. I had nowhere to go."_ Nero said, quite sad. His eyes were getting teary again.

**_(Hell)_ **

_"He was just sitting right in front of the cave entrance."_ Vergil continued. _"My pain had returned; I could barely move again."_

_"'What I will do?' he asked me. 'No one will ever adopt me now… not after they discovered I have a demon friend…' and he started to cry… it was a quiet cry."_

_"…and ...I still can't understand what happened to me... His painful crying made my heart hurt… figuratively hurt… not literally. I didn't want to see him like that… I knew how much that was painful…"_

Dante made an embarrassed smile without his brother noticing. Vergil just had described a moment of empathy, a thing that a few minutes ago, he had no idea even how it was called. 

Dante then thought, _"You have so much to learn about your humanity, bro…"_

_"He then turned to me and said, 'I don't want to go back…' his voice was trembling more than before."_ Vergil continued with sadness in his voice. _"His face was a big distorted blur to me, but somehow I could identify his tears dripping down his face."_

_"I wasn't thinking rationally at that moment; I just wanted his welfare. That child… he's was doing so much for me without me saying a thing and for nothing in exchange… I couldn't leave him hanging in the wind like that."_

Having an idea about what was coming, Dante became so hyped to know what would happen next. He got very close to his brother, nearly starting to invade his personal space. Vergil didn't like all that proximity, but he wouldn't complain… yet.

_"I extended my right hand to him, inviting him to get closer to me, hoping that he would understand what I meant with that."_

_"He did?"_ Dante asked curiously.

_"He didn't understand the first few times I made the signal. He kept staring at me for a brief moment until he said, 'Do you want to adopt me?'"_ Vergil explained.

**_(Void)_ **

Nero was already in tears without even finishing to tell that part of the story. He was sobbing and crying as if he was living that moment all over again. He began to desperately try to stop crying and to wipe away his tears. Kyrie even got closer and handed a soft tissue to him.

_"It's okay to cry, Nero. No need to be ashamed of your tears."_ Victor said in an attempt to tranquilize Nero.

_"Yeah, man,"_ Nico said worriedly. _"No one will judge you, I promise."_

Nero tried to take his breath back between many hiccups and sobbings in an attempt to regain his posture, but that was impossible. That moment was too shocking for him. 

_"H-He.. he.. -sob- He wanted me -sniff- he was the only o-one… that-that… -sniff- aaa-accepted me… that didn't see me as a… -sob, sob- freak… a-a-a problem…-sniff, sob, sob-"_

**_(Hell)_ **

_"I just waved my head confirming what he asked, and he suddenly broke. He began to cry out loud like a newborn baby."_

__

_"sniff"_

That "sniff" totally surprised Dante; Vergil was unexpectedly once again shaken and teary with the story. That kid surely meant a lot to him after everything they had together.

_"He came at me running for a hug… and kept crying like that for so long that he nearly lost his voice. He hugged me tight around my neck -sniff- as if I just had saved him from. death..."_

Vergil stopped to take a breath, and, surprisingly, he tried to clean a few tears. " _And then... -sniff-...after that we began to live together… but I have no idea for how long… I just remember that he grew up a lot."_

**_(Void)_ **

_"We then lived together for… six years…"_ Nero said between sobbings.

_"He was my best friend… almost like a father… still… -sniff-... we had to take care of each other. But through the years, his condition was getting better. -sob- His body was getting healthier and looking 'human-ish,' he didn't have as much pain as before… Almost none to be more exact -sob- The pieces of the some short of armor he had started to fall off his body too."_

_"What do you mean?"_ Nico asked. _"He was like… 'healing' or something?"_

_"I think?"_ Nero replied, a bit confused as he scratched his head. 

_"Most of the time, his actions weren't like a demon's. He mostly looked like a human in a demon body."_ Nero tried to explain. 

_"One day, I asked him if he was a human once. He took a long time to answer, like five minutes almost, but he said 'yes.' Although… It took him hours to explain to me that he was half-human. He tried to explain other things, but he couldn't because of his condition. He couldn't write or draw, much less speak. He gave up on the explanation, and we never talked about it again."_

_"So, you never asked him how he was when human?"_ Victor asked with a bit of suspicion.

_"No…I was waiting for him to speak and move better..."_ Nero answered quickly. _"But I would be lying if I say I never tried to imagine…"_

-a brief pause-

Nero giggled when he remembered about a silly thing.

_"We.. we made up a 'special handshake' if he returned to be human when I wasn't looking…"_ he said with an embarrassed smile. _"I never forgot how it was -sigh."_

**_(Hell)_ **

_"It was challenging to live around a demon-infested forest with a dependent child, a debilitated body, and the Order of the Sword hunting us down,"_ Vergil said sadly.

His face became sadder and more tears started to form as he continued to speak.

_"But he was someone I swore I would protect,"_ he said fiercely but still with a sad tone in the voice.

Vergil quickly cleaned his tears, expecting that his brother hadn't noticed them. But even sitting slightly behind him, Dante could tell by his movements what was happening.

_"I tried to teach him what I knew of sword and fist fighting, fortunately whenever we touched each other, some kind of...lights...? I guess, appeared around us. I only had to think about it, and he would learn right away. He just had to practice."_

_"While the time passed, I could feel Mundus' magic fading away veeeeeery slowly... as if I was being purified somehow. My body was getting back to normal, I wasn't feeling that much pain anymore, sometimes I even felt nothing wrong… but I was still a mess."_

Dante dry swallowed audibly; that was more proof of Sync, a Parent and Child or Siblings of same parents exclusive stuff. He couldn't be their little brother, so the only possible conclusion was that he was Vergil's child.

Confused, Vergil turned back after hearing his brother's nervous noises. Dante couldn't hide his anxious face, which gave Vergil a very suspicious feeling.

Dante then giggled nervously, _"Sorry, keep going…"_

Vergil stared at him with skepticism, but he continued the story regardless. _"There were some moments I… I just wanted to hold him closer… comfort him with gentle strokes and give him kisses on the head."_

He then wrapped his arms around his chest, like demonstrating a hug, as he made a face of joy. He then spoke with a tender voice, _"I wanted to tickle him and make him laugh… Play silly children activities like hide-and-seek…I wanted to read bedtime stories for him, cooking him food… and so many other things…sigh..."_

His face was expressing pure happiness. That kid was very precious to him; thinking about the good times they had together was one of the few ways for Vergil to smile, a discreet but honest and pure smile of happiness.

Dante finally came to a concrete realization and interrupted Vergil. _"You mean… The things mom used to do for us?" he_ asked, expecting a particular reaction.

Vergil stopped to think for a brief moment; his brother was right. Everything he wished to be able to do was everything he remembered what their mother did for them.

He turned to look at Dante. His face expressed surprise; he never related the things like that before. It was when Dante knew that his brother had some parenting instincts and love hidden somewhere inside him. He just needed a chance to put them into practice.

But the problem was: what if Baby is Nero? Had Vergil hurt the most precious person in his life for his "more-power-quest"? And how both characters would react when they discover they already knew each other?

Should he tell Vergil his thoughts? Tell him the in-depth details about Sync since he seemed to not know them? Dante saw himself in a very complicated and delicate crossroads.

_"I think...I understood why you called him 'Baby,'"_ Dante said calmly, trying to keep his anxiety away.

_"Ahn?"_ Vergil blurted. _"That was a misunderstanding, to be honest. A few days after I invited him to stay with me, he asked if I would give him a name. My debilitated mouth and tongue didn't let me speak a single comprehensive word. I tried to say 'maybe,' but he understood 'Baby,' and no matter what I tried, there was no way I could either speak or he understood me. So, we stuck with 'Baby'"_.

Dante indeed wasn't expecting that; the disappointment had hit him like a truck. He was expecting something cute, something special… but no, it was just a misunderstanding.

_"But… Why… 'wanted?' You weren't able to do a single thing of that?"_ Dante asked, despite already knowing the answer.

Vergil's joy quickly vanished, as if Dante just had stabbed him on his back. _"How could I? In that state?! Even after all that time we spent together, I could not even speak or see him clearly in the end. The maximum I could do was hold him closer and nothing else."_

They passed a few seconds in silence until Dante came with the worst question he could have done about that subject. _"Well… what happened with the kid then?"_

It was like Vergil's soul left his body at that moment. To think about it made him visibly depressed. He started to stare at the void; his eyes had no shine anymore, as if he just died that moment.

**_(Void)_ **

_"He used to teach me how to sword fight and also how to fight bare hands. I learned all the basics with him… although… I don't know how, but when that lights appeared, I used to instantly know about whatever he wanted to teach me."_ Nero explained, with a bit of confusion on his tone.

_"Sometimes I had those… 'de-Sync breakdowns'… but being with him helped me endure the pain… I don't know how that happened…but somehow it hurt him a bit as well. Over time, it stopped happening and only came back a few weeks ago."_

Now, Nico and Kyrie were beginning to feel that Monster was, in fact, Vergil. Everything Nero was describing matched with the description of Sync Victor gave to then early.

Nero snickered, remembering every good moment he passed with his best friend. _"When he was feeling good, we used to go to the city late at night and steal stuff. Clothes for me, food, cover sheets, and so on. Hehe. When he was in a good mood, we often used to steal food from delivery guys, especially the ones from pizzerias. Or even watch TV from the windows of some houses… I could watch something, I don't know about him. I remember he loved to hear me reading books to him too… He always wanted to try to read them too, but he definitely couldn't because of his wounded eyes… - sigh."_

_"Why did you call him Monster?"_ Nico questioned, quite curious.

_"I don't know exactly, I just started to call him like that… Nowadays, I think it's quite an ironic name… he only looked like a monster… but he was more human with me than every actual human I ever met…"_

_"He was so affectionate…"_ he said with a smile. _"Not at the very beginning, he turned with time. He liked to hold me closer, especially during bedtime. He tried to make some gentle moves like… stroke or pat my head, but his size and lack of better control of his moments didn't let him do that so well…"_

_"... He even made up a clicking noise to pretend it was a kiss… sigh…"_

_"But… what happened to him?"_ Victor asked, taking off Nero's happiness from his face. That was the worst question someone could make about the monster. 

Then, both Nero(at Void) and Vergil(at Hell) started to recall and talk about that fateful day:

  
  


**_Fortuna - back to 13 years ago - 04:00 AM_ **

Baby and Monster were sneaking their way through the city, going in the direction of the port area. 

Monster was wearing a dirty cloak; he was almost the size of a tall human by that time, although his large horns made a weird shape on the cloak's hood. Since his body was nearly proportional now, he could walk on his legs. He only needed an improvised cane Baby made using hardwood to support himself standing.

Baby was nearing the end of his childhood, around twelve years old. He was wearing some modest clothing that he stole from a shop and in his backpack, also stolen, he was carrying the few material things they had. On his waist was a poorly forged iron sword, a failed attempt to recreate a katana that he made with Monster.

When the port got on sight, Baby whispered, _"Finally! We need to get into one of those big commercial ships, and we will finally get out of this hell."_

They both went slow and silent through the darker areas of the place, contouring every lamp post and the one or two workers they spotted. Until they reached a medium-sized cargo ship; an uncommon kind of commerce ship that docks on Fortuna's Port, bringing unique products from the continent.

_"Now we just need to get in thought the anchor,"_ Baby whispered excitedly. 

But before he gave the next step, Monster gently touched his shoulder, calling his attention to him. Baby looked at him, visibly confused, but when he saw the gesture Monster was doing, he understood what it was: he wanted him for a hug.

Baby could tell that his friend was trying to smile. Monster had to kneel to look at him eye to eye, and his arms were stretched toward him, calling him closer.

Nero didn't get why right now, but he didn't question; he went straight to the hug. They hugged tightly and tenderly, and time seemed to have stopped. They were enjoying every second of that comforting hug. Monster felt warm on the inside; that feeling of seeing Baby happy was indescribable. While Baby was immeasurable happy about how much his friend was getting better. 

They didn't want that moment to end. It was the first time either could perform a decent hug, even if Monster's arms weren't totally recovered. Monster was even purring like a big cat for much of Baby's fun.

_"Thank you...I love you, Monster. You're my hero."_ Baby said from the bottom of his heart.

Those words were going to get stuck in Monster's mind forever, but it was he that wanted to say that the most.

_'No… you that saved me, my baby… I love you too,'_ Monster thought. He was so desperate to say such words that he tried to talk; unfortunately, his vocal cords and tongue had not healed enough. He could only mumble mostly random demonic noises and a syllable or two.

_"it's okay…"_ Baby said when he noticed his friend's despair. _"I can't wait for your mouth and neck to get better so we can have actual talks,"_ he giggled.

_"Let's go,"_ he called him, gesturing for them to keep walking. 

Once they were side by side by the anchor's huge chains, Baby said quite confidently, _"Are you rea-?"_ He suddenly was interrupted by a loud painful screaming from Monster.

When he turned, he couldn't believe his eyes. Monster got stabbed in his back by a silver sword that pierced through his chest. It wasn't the same sword type the Order's Knights used. 

The sword slightly opened its blade in the middle like a jaw and quickly drained Monster's energy, making him scream in pain again.

_"MONSTER!"_ Baby shouted with all his strength. 

He sprinted to help his friend, but twenty or more Order's Knights jumped out from inside the crates that were closer to the ship. 

_"The Order?! How?!"_ Baby yelled in panic. All those years living in hiding from them, how did they finally find them?

The silver sword was pulled out of Monster's body quickly. The fatigue caused by the energy drain made his already unstable body fall to the ground. Behind him, there has a woman in the Order's Knight uniform. The hood and low light were hiding her face, and she was holding another sword, of the same look, on her other hand.

_"Finally found you, you brainless beast,"_ she muttered. _"What's your problem in dying?"_

Baby ran towards his friend's body on the dock's cold metal floor; he was bleeding tremendously. He didn't have time to think about what the sword could to him. As he got closer, Monster forced himself to stay conscious, but he was growing weaker.

Baby was on the verge of a freakout. _"No. No. No. No. No! You just got so much better! Why?!"_

He tried to help him get up, but two Knights swiftly dragged him away from Monster. They forced his hands behind his back and wrapped his wrists together with a silver rope with some strange runes written on it. Immediately, he felt his strength begin to drain, and he kneeled tired as if he had just trained for the entire day.

_"NO! Monster!"_ He shouted, feeling even his breath getting heavier.

Monster felt weak because of the energy drain; he felt the same tiredness he had years ago. But this time, there was someone he has to - nay, MUST protect. No amount of pain would stop him from achieving it.

He started to concentrate strength into his arms to get up. His almost fully regenerated wings opened wide to intimidate the Knights, revealing his demonic body under the cloak. They also now had a blue glow inside that helped illuminate just a little the place.

The woman with the pair of odd swords rolled her eyes before going straight in to stab Monster's left hand into the floor. He didn't scream, but his pained expression showed more than enough.

She stabbed his hand so effectively that the sword got stuck in the metal floor. Even with all his remaining strength, he couldn't take his hand out of place, nearly driving him insane. 

He roared desperately, trying to tell Baby to run away.

Baby tried to untangle from the Knights' tight grips. He attempts to jump and shake his body, fighting to get free. But the ropes had weakened him, and the Knights were able to hold him as a normal kid. All that effort only made him more tired.

Under all that stress, he could only think: _"What's going on with me?! If I don't do something, they will kill him! He's not one hundred percent yet!"_

Monster realized that Baby wouldn't get out on his own. He tried to get his hand out of the sword trapping, with no results. The only way would be to let the sword slice its way through so he can get out, leaving his left hand useless for the moment.

_"Spare me of this shit…"_ the woman said, annoyed by the attempts of the demon to get free.

_"Listen, you piece of shit!"_ she called Monster's attention. _"If you come with us in peace, we won't do anything with the kid."_

She gets very close to him and whispers, for only him to hear it. _"I know you can understand me… Nelo Angelo."_

Her last two words made his blood boil.

Hearing that name again triggered nightmares and traumas that he already had suppressed years ago, thanks to his life with Baby.

Monster roared loudly in anguish just for the fact that the woman had that information. She was indeed dangerous and probably somehow knew Mundus.

He attacks her with his right arm fully charged, his claws ready to slaughter, but she easily dodged by kneeling. 

Monster could barely move with his hand stuck, but he would not give up. He threw his body forward with his mouth wide open to get the woman.

Unfortunately, the woman was many times faster than him.

He got close enough to almost take a piece out of her, but he had bitten the air. She did a high jump over his head and landed on his back, applying much force and smacking his chest against the metal floor.

For some reason, she hated Monster, and that could easily be seen in her fierce eyes.

With the other sword she had in her hands, she began to quickly yet cruelly stab his back multiple times. The sword had not just pierced him, but it also drained his energy and magic with every stab.

Baby screamed so loud that he almost lost his voice and brought him much pain. Monster could do nothing except shout in pain.

_"STOP! STOOOOOOOP!"_ Baby screamed in panic and started to cry uncontrollably; that was the only thing he could do in that situation.

The woman jumped off from Monster's back, her sword dripping his blood and her leggings and cape dirty with it. She took out the sword from his left hand and stabbed in his right hand. He couldn't move anymore; he returned to zero all over again.

_"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?! YOU ARE THE MONSTER HERE, YOU SCUM!"_ Baby shouted with his most honest anger and panic towards the unknown woman.

Baby couldn't see her face, but he could feel her stare at him. The pressure was immeasurable, but it did not deter him away.

She made a hand signal to one of the Knights to let the kid go. When they had taken off the rope from his pulses, he ran towards his friend - his face was completely wet with his desperate tears.

_"Monster! Monster, please… no… you have to get out of here!"_ Baby cried in panic, trying to help him get up.

But he was so weak… again. He tried to give his arms some strength the maximum he could, but the energy-draining made that an impossible task.

The woman pulled Baby back, holding his jacket's neck collar with ease away from Monster.

Very close to losing his consciousness, Monster kept trying to get up and even charge some magic to help Baby. Unfortunately, all of his efforts were useless; he was already out of battle.

Baby couldn't speak, he only could stare at the image of his best friend dying in front of him, and he couldn't do a thing about it. 

Mentally, Monster was in a total panic. His body and magic weren't responding to his commands anymore, but he kept trying to get up anyway.

_"AAAAAH!"_

Monster's vision was terrible, but he could see and understand what happened right in front of him. Baby was stabbed by the woman in the chest, and a few blood drops had fallen on Monster's face.

The sword then electrocuted him with a deadly high voltage: _"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"_

Monster's heart and soul slowly started to die together with Baby.

"You two can't stay together. That's not how it's supposed to work," the woman said to the boy mercilessly before she threw his body in the ocean.

Monster died inside the moment he heard the "splash" of Baby's body in the water. 

The Knights could easily chain him up and take him to a big vehicle, transporting him to the Order's Headquarters after that.

Over the next few years, the Order used him and the pieces they found of his armor to create their Angelos. They thought they were draining his magic; however, he somehow managed to hold much of his own while he made them drain all of Mundus' corruption out of him.

It nearly cost him his life, but he was able to regain his full consciousness and "original form."

One day he faked his death, escaped, and fled from the facility in a killing spree. That happened a few weeks before the Fortuna incident.

Through the next few years, he relieved that moment of Baby's death repeatedly, corrupting him from inside out. Once again, he realized how weak he was and didn't deserve a human life or love. His human side was only responsible for his and his loved ones' suffering. He had to return to his quest for power because of his weakness, and this time… Even if that meant discarding a part of himself, he would accomplish his goal.

Meanwhile, Baby survived the stab and found himself on a shore later, still at Fortuna. 

He went to live around Fortuna's outskirts for a long time, attacking and sometimes even killing by accident every Knight he spotted on the path between the city and the Order's headquarters. He questioned every one of them about Monster, but none knew what he was talking about.

Until he attacked Credo.

Credo and Kyrie's parents accepted Baby to live among them since he had white hair and some connection with demons. He appeared similar to the description of the figure they worshipped: Sparda.

Unfortunately, a few weeks later, they were killed by a demon, thus, reminding Baby of the "demon magnet curse" that haunted him.

He then joined the Order with the only intention of acquiring better equipment and to get inside HQ to look for Monster.

A few weeks before the Savior incident, Credo was able to bring for Baby, in secret, a copy of documents talking about Monster… Only for him to discover that his best friend had died.

**_Void Realm - Pitch Black City: Back to the present_ **

Kyrie had to finish the story before Nero's "death" as Nero was sobbing and sniffing uncontrollably. His tears were too much to clean, and he was also so shaken he could not speak.

Nico never expected to feel so sorry for Nero. She was aware he had a tough life, but to that extent… Victor was also feeling bad for him, but he had to tell him the truth. What he didn't expect was the reaction that was about to come.

They waited in silence for nearly an hour for Nero to calm down. It was already very late in the night.

_"Nero..."_ Victor started slowly, breaking the silence. _"I don't think Monster really died…"_

Nero raised his head to look at him. He couldn't understand how Victor came to that conclusion.

_"Have you paid attention… to any of the things you described?"_ Victor continued calmly. _"Being able to feel what the other is feeling… seeing memories… receiving the knowledge from the other…"_

Victor's words weren't clicking with Nero's memory. He was still a bit shaken by the story.

Noticing that, he decided to be more direct. _"You described every characteristic of Sync."_

Nero's brain gears began to work again. Sync was a recent subject Victor explained to him: an exclusive ability between siblings of the same parents and… a _p_ _arent and child thing._

_"No! Wait!"_ Nero blurted, confused. _"Ar-Are you… Are you trying to tell me that Monster… - a pause- was Vergil?!"_

_"I'm sure about it,"_ Victor said quite seriously, staring at Nero's eyes.

Nero immediately got up from the seat, scaring Kyrie, who was closer to him. His face had changed so quickly as if someone had pressed a switch. He began to yell angrily at Victor. _"VERGIL ISN'T MONSTER! No way that cold-blooded motherfucker is Monster!"_ he screamed between tears, but this time tears of anger.

_"Dude! Chill! What's up?!"_ Nico yelled, scared with his reaction.

_"Why are you in denial?!"_ Victor questioned, keeping his calm posture. _"Can't you see that everything you said described Sync perfectly?"_

_"NO!"_ Nero shouted angrily. 

Kyrie could see some sparks starting to blink around Nero, but before she could say anything, Victor went first. _"Why then?!"_ he yelled, confused.

Nero took a deep breath and concentrated all his anger and depression on his next words and tears: _"I'M NOT THE BASTARD CHILD OF A DEMON!"_

And immediately after those words of sorrow, he started to bleed through his eyes, nose, and mouth at an alarming quantity. He lost control of his body and fell to the ground, shaking so much like he was having a convulsion. 

Only Kyrie could see the mess of blue and red bolts circling around Nero. _"Oh my God! He's desyncing again!"_ she shouted, frightened and instinctively rushed to help him out. 

_"Kyrie! Wait!"_ Nico shouted, but it was too late.

The moment she touched him, purple and white energy strings came out of her, and she felt his energy streams. At precisely the same moment, his energies repelled hers away, sending Kyrie a few steps backward.

_"Are you a demon?!"_ Victor shouted, quite surprised. _"Or a half-demon?!_ \- he quickly turned to Nico - _"You said she was human!"_

**_Hell - at the same moment_ **

The situation got quite awkward between Dante and Vergil. 

Vergil was holding back his feelings the best he could. He was even holding his breath to do so. His body was shaking with so much tension that a tear was rolling down his cheeks. His face was red with stress. 

_"Ah… That's why you did that then…"_ Dante said low, finally understanding what initially motivated his brother to go after the Qliporth and throw away his human half.

There was no way Vergil's uneasiness and tension could pass unnoticed. Dante started to feel sorry for his brother like he never thought he would; Vergil lost the most precious person in his entire life. Baby was his savior, and he barely could do something to help him in return.

The way Vergil was holding himself made Dante recall how he felt _that_ day. Yeah, that fateful day, he couldn't have Vergil to destroy his own life. That killing sensation of feeling useless and powerless. The thought of 'everything could be different IF...'

_"Bro…"_ Dante said, soft and low, trying to call Vergil's attention. _"Listen… even a Devil may cry when they lose a loved one."_

When Dante thought he couldn't see his brother more shaken, the inevitable happened: Vergil couldn't hold anymore. Not after his brother's last words, he started sobbing and crying in grief. Baby's death was too painful for him. He hugged himself, trying to endure the pain as he stuttered uncontrollably with many incomprehensive words. He brought his legs closer and assumed a fetal position. 

To comfort the desolated man, Dante got closer and laid his left hand on his left shoulder. Vergil couldn't resist and laid his head on his brother's shoulder. He was crying and sobbing as if Baby had just died a moment ago, and even though it was silent, he was in pure pain. His chest and shoulders were giving small jumps because of his intense sobbing and hiccups, his lips and jaw were trembling as if he was shivering, and his nose was very runny.

_"I-I-It-t-t was just like… just like that day… - sob- just like… -sob, sob- just like that day…! -hic hic!"_ Vergil cried.

_"I-I-I I couldn't protect him! I WAS WEAK! t-t-THE SA-ME SHIiiiT-T! ALL OVER AGAIN! -sob, sob... hic- aaaaahh...!"_

Dante tried to stroke Vergil's shoulder to comfort him more, it wasn't helping that much, but he was trying. He had no idea what to do. The man had never been in a situation like this before. Now… should he tell his thoughts to him? He was confident now that Baby is Nero. But how would his brother react? Would it help? Would it make it worse? There was only one way to know.

Dante waited for a long time in silence for his brother to catch his breath before he could say something. 

For several minutes, if not an hour, Vergil's crying was the only sound around, echoing in their hideout.

_"Vergil… Do you remember… that thing… we used to be able to do it when we were kids?"_ Dante tried to start slow, touching the wound with a bit of care.

_"Sob - W-What… - hic - th-thing…?"_ Vergil asked, very lost.

Dante got a bit nervous. He didn't want to get to the point too quickly. _"You know… that when we touched… we could see each other's memories, learn what the other learned… and so on…"_

_"Sob- Th-That th-ing... -hic- Rose was studying about us - sob - ?"_ Vergil tried to remember, but it was a bit blurry at that moment. " _Sob, sob - that later I dis-dis-covered -hic- with Vi-Victor that it was… -sob- a demon thing?"_

_"Yeeeeaaaah…"_ Dante said a bit awkwardly. 

There's a moment of silence before Dante gets the courage to continue. _"Sooo… Have Victor told you everything about that?"_

_"No -sob- why?"_ Vergil replied as he raised his head to look at his brother.

Dante let go of him and gave a small distance, afraid of his reaction. _"Well then… Victor explained to me… that's a demon thing like you said… BUT it's a thing… exclusive to siblings of the same parents… and..."_

_"And?!"_ Vergil started to notice Dante's reluctance on the subject.

_"And a parent and children thing too… and a lot of what you described between you and Baby matches with what Victor explained to me...."_ he said very slowly. _"So… I'm afraid that… may be... Baby…"_

_"NO!"_ Vergil understood very fast. _"No no no no no no no no no no no! NO!"_

_"I'm afraid that maybe… Baby was your child all this time… He's...Nero."_ Dante finally said.

Vergil's soul left his body and returned for a brief moment. Had he hurt Baby for real? Someone that only deserved love and care saw his worst? His face became full of total despair and panic. He brought his hands to his head, pressing his fingers against his scalp. The more and more he recalled what he did wrong with Nero, the thoughts started to storm his mind like a hurricane. Until he let all the panic concentrate into his gut explode in a loud scream of despair that called the attention of nearby demons.

Vergil began to freak out in tears. He was crying in significant pain that he started to hurt his head with his nails, digging them on his scalp. Dante quickly grabbed him by his arms to hold him still, for he didn't get himself hurt in the middle of his panic.

_"Bro! BROTHER!"_ Dante tried to call. _"Easy, Vergil!"_

Between the heavy sobbing, he could spit out a few words. _"No no no! -sob, sob- I would be-never -sob- hu-hu-hurt him! - Sob, sob."_

_"You can't blame yourself for that, man!"_ Dante attempted to help him get in control. _"You thought he was dead, you saw him get killed in front of you, and you didn't know he was a hybrid like us!"_

Vergil looked at him, a desperate face and eyes red of so much crying, but he was listening to his brother.

_"If you explain to him what really happened, I think he will understand,"_ Dante said, very worried with Vergil.

It was tough for Vergil to believe that he would be forgiven for such doing, especially the arm literal take off. He couldn't think clearly about that now. He was too worried that it was very likely he had hurt the most important person of his life. 

Now, he laid his head on Dante's shoulder once more and produced even more tears.

**_Inside Vergil (figuratively)_ **

The place was close to being dead for real. The sun was hidden behind hefty dark clouds, the ground was arid and crackly, and there was a small pool of water at the center of the place. Loud painful crying was echoing everywhere in this infinite desolate place. 

It was V, crying uncontrollably as he stared at a tiny, dying flower. No smaller than his fingers, with another one starting to bloom by its side. He had his arms, legs, and neck chained to a dead tree stump in front of a pool that had scorched marks like roots. Although the chains were heavy, he could move his appendages. He was wearing the same clothes as Vergil, and his hair and facial hair were purely white now.

Urizen was sitting behind the stump. He was quiet, only listening to V’s painful crying.

V kneeled to the little flowers that were at his side. He gently touched the dying flower with his fingers and raised it a little. 

_“My little one.. -sob- my little, little one…. - sob - I’m so sorry… -sob, sob- I’m so sorry for having hurt you… - sob - my baby…!”_

**_To be continued..._ **

**Author's Note:**

> For more content related to the story and also news, check out my Tumblr(Mariana-souza) and Twitter(@Maryenne042)


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